


Remember When...

by juli_with_a_chance



Category: The Bold Type
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Kadena are childhood friends, Multi, Possible smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2019-09-02 22:25:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16795945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juli_with_a_chance/pseuds/juli_with_a_chance
Summary: This chapter picks up where the previous left off.





	1. Chapter 1

-Kat POV-

I walk into the bar, closely following Sutton as she holds my hand, pulling me through the crowded area. We find Jane soon after entering the bar, and she smiles, raising three shots of tequila, “cheers to Kat and her awesome job, Sutton and her promotion, and me for not having a nervous breakdown after losing my job at Incite as I regret the fact I left Scarlet,” she says, as we clink our glasses together and take the shot.

“I think you’re handling everything very well,” I chime, shaking my head as the alcohol burns the back of my throat.

“You’ll figure it all out, who knows, Jacqueline may hire you back at some point, no one has been able to fill your spot,” Sutton chimes.

“She’s right, give it time. Everything will be okay,” I say as I reach into my bag for my phone.

“Who’s that? Another mindless Tinder hookup?” Sutton asks before ordering drinks.

“Possibly,” I shrug, sticking my phone back in my bag.

“Don’t you want stability?” Jane asks, resting her elbows on the table we managed to find.

“We all can’t find doctors, Jane,” I scoff.

“Let Kat have fun, her twenties are almost over and she can worry about stability in her thirties.”

“Thank you!” I say, dowing the shot Sutton handed me, “with that, there is someone over there that I think I want to have fun with,” I chime, smiling when a guy at the end of the bar smirked at me, raising his bottle of beer asking if I want a drink.

“Be careful.”

“Let us know if you leave, please,” Jane rushes out as I walk away.

* * *

I open my eyes, and look up and an unfamiliar ceiling as I rubbed my temples, “fuck,” I mutter to myself as I look beside me to see the guy from the bar snoring. “Shit,” I whisper, getting out of the bed and picking up my clothes that weren’t too far from the bed, thankfully. I walk out of the apartment building, realizing I was somewhere in SoHo. I dig around my bag finding my phone to see several missed calls and text messages from Jane and Sutton. I call them both, letting them know I was alive and would be back in Brooklyn soon and be getting to work late. I walk onto the bullpen at Scarlet and over to my desk. “How was your night,” Sutton chimes, sitting on the edge of my desk.

“I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“It was that bad?”

“Yeah, again we’re not talking about it,” I say as I log into my computer.

“Fair enough.”

“Anything exciting going on today?”

“No, not really. We’re getting ready for the Spring fashion edition, we have a shoot later on if you want to come down,” Sutton says, looking at her phone.

“I will come by after my lunch meeting.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

* * *

I make my way towards the studio where the shoot was taking place, I look over to see Sutton and Oliver hovering over an iPad, “nice to see you aren’t glued to your desk,” Alex chimes.

“Nice to see you aren’t either,” I tease, “what are you doing down here?”

“I was assigned to write an article on the photographer, she said this was the only chance I would get an interview.”

“Sounds like she’s a busy woman,” I laugh, looking over to see a shocking familiar set of deep brown eyes look back at me, and a familiar grin to match.

“My, oh my, is that you Kat Edison?” The woman asks with an accent that is very unfamiliar, and yet very inviting.

“Adena? Adena El-Amin?”

“Don’t act as if you’ve forgotten about me, Kat. I know it’s been a long time but still.”

“It’s been ten years,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest, “if not more.”

“Ten sounds about right, I haven’t seen you since we were, what? Fifteen?”

“Just about, it was the end of our sophomore year in high school when you moved.”

“I didn’t move willingly, my father was able to get a good job in Europe,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest as she looks me up and down, a smirk playing on her lips, “I would like to catch up with you one day. If you have time.”

“I can fit something in, are you going to be around Scarlet often?”

“I was hired for this shoot and asked to do an interview. I’m only going to be around today.”

“Come and find me when you’re done. Just ask Sutton where my desk is,” I say, looking over to see Sutton eyeing me curiously.”

“As soon as I’m done here I have to catch a flight to the Middle East,” Adena pouts, turning in her heels and walking over to her back, she comes back with her phone in her hand, “here, give me your number, we’ll keep in touch? I should be back in the states at the end of the week.”

“Okay, I’d like that,” I say, putting my number into her phone.

* * *

“Sutton tells me you had a moment with the photographer today?” Jane chimes as she walks over to my desk.

“We were friends when we were kids,” I shrug.

“Okay, you can have you’re entitled to your privacy.”

“Thank you,” I smile.

“I know you’ll tell us one day.”

“I also know I am entitled to have parts of my life be my own business, so I’d appreciate it if you would seriously just not pry with this one.”

“Okay, sorry.”

* * *

_I walk into the kitchen to see my mom was reading something on her laptop, “Mom?”_

_“Yes, Sweetie?” She smiles, looking over at me and pushing her glasses to the top of her head._

_“Can Adena come over for a little bit?”_

_“Only a little bit?” She asks with a smirk._

_“Can she stay overnight?”_

_“Sweetheart, I want to talk to you for a minute,” she chimes, looking down for a minute before pointing to the seat beside her at the table. I walk over, sitting down like she asked, watching her as she sits forward, placing her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her joined hands, “do you want to tell me what’s going on with you and Adena?”_

_“She’s my best friend Mom, we’ve been friends since we were six. There’s nothing to talk about.”_

_“Kat, you know you can talk to me about everything going on in your life.”_

_“I know, Mom. If something was going on I would tell you,” I say, looking at the vase of flowers in the middle of the table while I played with the corner of the placemat._

_“I’m not going to push you, but just know that whatever you are feeling for her, it’s okay,” she says, placing her hand over mine. I look at her to see her giving me a tight-lipped smile._

_“I don’t know how to explain it,” I say, feeling tears well up in my eye._

_“Don’t cry Sweetheart,” she says, getting out of her seat and wrapping me in a hug as I felt myself fall apart in her arms._

* * *

I jump as I hear my phone chirp on my bedside table, breaking me from the concentration I was giving to what I was reading. I look to see it was another silly Tinder match, I open my phone and see it was an unfamiliar face of a guy that looked like every other guy I swiped right on. I disregard the message and lock my phone again as I push my glasses to the top of my head, groaning when my phone chirps again, only this time it was a text message from Adena. ‘ _I’m in Dubai for the next two weeks. I should be back in the states by the end of the month if you want to get together._ ’. I read through the message several times before deciding against replying right away. With a sigh, I tossed my phone to the side as I lied back, looking up at the beams of the ceiling, weighing my options.


	2. Chapter 2

-Adena POV-

_“Adena, Love, where are you running off to?” My father asks from his office, as I make my way down the stairs and towards the door._

_“The football game is tonight, I have to take pictures for the school paper and yearbook,” I explain, walking into his office which was right off the bottom of the stairs._

_“Are you going to Kat’s after?”_

_“I don’t know, she may come here, if that’s okay with you.”_

_“She’s always welcome, you know that,” he smiles._

_“Thank you, Dad.”_

_“Be careful,” he says, bringing his attention back to his computer. I stand at the end zone of our goal post, trying to take pictures as best as I can while also trying to run on the sidelines, keeping up with the action._

_“Hey, Dena!” I look over to see Kat leaning against the railing of the bleachers, leaning over slightly on the bar at her stomach._

_“Hey,” I smile, looking up at her._

_“When are you going to be done?”_

_“When the game is over, you know that.”_

_“You never hang out with me at a football game, you’re always running around like a headless chicken.”_

_“Sorry, I like what I do, you know that.”_

_“You’ve been that way since you got a disposable camera for Christmas when you were eight,” she says with a giggle._

_“Are you coming over tonight, Dad said it was okay.”_

_“Your parents love me, of course, I would be allowed over.”_

_“Yeah, yeah. I’m convinced they like you more than me sometimes.”_

_“It’s possible,” she teases with a nod as I reach up and swat at her foot._

_“Come and find me when this is all over?”_

_“Of course,” she chimes, disappearing with her group of friends to the top of the bleachers. I look up to see her smile and wave at me. I find Kat in the parking lot at the end of the game smiling as I walk towards her._

_“Did you actually watch the game?”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“I saw you watching me more often than the game,” I tease as we make the short walk back to my house._

_“You were more entertaining,” she says, looking down at her feet as she walks. I look at her and she looks over at me, a small smile on her face. We walk into my house to see my parents were sitting in the living room watching television._

_“Hello, girls,” my mother chimes, looking over her shoulder at us with a smile._

_“Hello, Ester, hello Armand,” Kat chimes politely as she kicks off her shoes._

_“How are you, Kat? It’s been a whole day since we’ve last seen you,” my dad teases._

_“Ha ha. We’ll be upstairs.” Kat and I make our way up to my room, once she walks through the door, Kat throws herself down on my bed._

_“Why is your bed always so comfortable?” She asks, burying her face into one of my pillows. I laugh at her action as I walk over and lie down beside her. We stare at each other for a moment before Kat reaches over and brushes a fallen strand of hair from my face._

_“Why do you treat your me so differently than you do your other friends?”_

_“I don’t know.”_

_“Yes you do,” I whisper. She stares at me for a moment, leaning in slightly, I meet her in the middle, kissing her softly._

* * *

“Adena, where are you?” I hear my girlfriend, Coco, call out from somewhere in the apartment. I turn slightly, feeling her wrap her arms around my waist, standing behind me and resting her chin on my shoulder as we stood the balcony, “what are you doing out here?” she mumbles in my ear, kissing my neck.

“Thinking,” I chime, leaning into her embrace.

“About me?” She chuckles, “I’m kidding.”

“I’m going to go out for a little bit,” I smile, turning to kiss her quickly.

“Okay, I have some work to do anyway.” Coco turns with a smile, gathering her things before giving me a wave and walking out of the apartment. I gather my things and make my way out the door. I take a deep breath as I exit the elevator, walking over to the receptionist who looks at me with a smile.

“Can I help you?”

“I’m looking for Kat Edison.”

“She should be finishing up in her meeting, I’ll go make sure,” the girl smiles, getting up from her desk. She comes back a moment later, “Kat will be with you shortly.”

“Thank you.”

“Adena?” Kat says, looking at me slightly confused, “what are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry to just pop in, and I don’t mean to be bothering you at work, but I just wanted to see you.”

“W-would you like to get coffee?”

“I would like that,” I smile.

“I’ll be right back,” she chimes. Leaving for a moment and coming back with her bag, “follow me.” We walk out of the elevator and over to a small coffee bar in the middle of the lobby of the building, “I don’t usually leave the office when I have meetings.”

“Kat, we really don’t have to do this.”

“No, it’s okay. I don’t have a meeting for another hour or so. Besides I was wondering when I was going to hear from you when you got back from Dubai. What are you having?”

“Black tea, please.”

“You haven’t changed much,” Kat smiles.

“What does that mean?”

“You’ve been drinking black tea since you were twelve.”

“You’ve got me there,” I say with a shy smile, looking down at my feet. We get our drinks and walk over to a small sofa by a wall of windows, looking into the lush green courtyard.

“How have you been?”

“I’ve been well, I can’t believe how long it’s been,” I say, turning slightly to face her better, resting my elbow on the back of the sofa.

“I know…” she says, playing with the lid of her cup, “I didn’t know it was you right away, especially when you started talking. Your accent is something.”

“I’ve been a lot of places, stayed in different places for long periods of time. I picked up different things,” I shrug.

“I would like to hear about your travels one day.”

“Come out with me? Or you can come to my place, I’ll cook for you.”

“You’ll cook for me?”

“Yeah,” I laugh, “I can cook quite well, mind you.”

“Wow, it has been a long time then,” Kat laughs, “how’s your family?”

“My parents are well, they’re in England. After we moved there, they fell in love with it, and most of my aunts and uncles emigrated there.”

“That’s good, and your sister?”

“She’s over there too, she got into Cambridge, she’s studying to be a physicist I think,” I shrug, “my parents are happy they have at least one child that wanted to do something sensible. I ran off to follow my passion.”

“You ran off?”

“I left when I was seventeen, I hated England so much.”

“Why did you move there?”

“Something with my dad’s job. I don’t really know what it was about. He wasn’t allowed to tell us anything. Anyway, how are Susan and Marcus?”

“They are the same, they still live in Connecticut. They still are practicing psychiatrists.”

“And what drove you to be whatever it is you are here?”

“I’m social media director.”

“Director? You’re the head of a department?”

“Yep, for about a year now.”

“And you haven’t tried to fight your way to a higher position yet? You’ve always been a ‘go-getter’.”

“I have been working for the company for four years, three of them I was an intern. I’m happy where I’m at right now, I don’t think I want to climb much higher than that.”

“Right now,” I tease, causing a shy smile to play on her face, “I missed you, Kat.”

“I missed you too, Adena,” she smiles, “so when do you plan on cooking for me?”

-Kat POV-

I walk back over to my desk after having coffee with Adena. I’m barely back in the office for thirty seconds before Sutton is pulling me in the direction of the fashion closet, “can I help you?”

“Are you going to tell us about this woman you seem to know?” Sutton asks, pushing me into the closet where Jane was already standing.

“Am I not allowed to have a part of my life be my own without having to tell either of you?”

“Why are you so hostile about it?” Jane asks.

“Because she is someone from my life that I’m not ready to tell either of you about. I haven’t seen or spoke to her in years… I would like to get to know her again before I tell either of you,” I snap, turning on my heels and walking out of the room.

* * *

_I walk into the photo lab on my free period knowing I would find Adena. I walk over to the corner where she was editing on the computer, I sneak up, wrapping my arms around her and laughing when she jumps, “you nearly killed me!” Adena says, shoving my arm._

_“Sorry,” I say through a laugh before kissing her cheek._

_“You’re lucky you’re cute, or I would have punched you,” she says, turning in her chair to face me, “did you come in here to annoy me?”_

_“Always,” I smile, leaning down to kiss her softly._

_“I have to finish this project before this period is over.”_

_“You probably finished it already and are redoing it because you weren’t happy with it.”_

_“How have you gotten to know me so well?”_

_“We’ve been friends since we were six, so what is that, nine years now?”_

_“Nine years too long.”_

_“You love me,” I tease, she looks up at me and smiles, wrapping her arms around my waist as she stands up._

_“I do love you,” she says quietly, kissing me again._

* * *

I walk up to the building that matched the address Adena gave me. I ring the bell before hearing the door unlock. I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself as I walk up the stairs to her apartment, I knock on her door, feeling my heart rate pick up. Adena opens the door with a smile, greeting me with a hug, “I live in the next neighborhood over,” I chime.

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, I’m in Dumbo, by the Manhattan Bridge.”

“Small world,” she chimes, “make yourself comfortable.” I walk further into the apartment, and it’s uniquely Adena. Even without knowing her in her adult life, I know very well that she hasn’t changed a lot over the years.

“I brought some wine with me, I hope you like red.”

“Oh, I don’t drink,” she says with a polite smile, “my religion, it’s forbidden.”

“Right, I forgot you were Muslim, I was wondering why you were wearing a hijab.”

“You could have asked me.”

“I know, but we haven’t seen each other in years.”

“I know, but we knew each other for so long…”

“I know,” I say looking down at the floor.

“Let’s not dwell,” Adena says, placing her hand on my shoulder, “I didn’t invite you here for that.”

“Did you take all of these photos?” I ask, looking at the walls and some photos in frames that haven’t found a place on the walls yet but were leaning against the wall.  
“I did. I never stopped taking photos,” she chimes, making her way back into the kitchen.

“You traveled a lot too, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Did you travel by yourself?”

“Not always,” she shakes her head as she puts rice into a bowl, “I met different people along the way. France is my second home.”

“I would love to go to France,” I chime, picking up a book from the coffee table.

“Those were my final portfolio for school,” Adena chimes, walking over with a bowl in each hand.

“Where did you go to school?”

“Speos,” she says with pride, “it’s one of the top photography institutes in the world.”

“Isn’t it in France?”

“Paris,” she chimes, walking back towards the kitchen.

“You got into your dream school.”

“You remembered.”

“Yeah, you always spoke about it.”

“I did, didn’t I?”

“From what I remember, it consisted of most of the conversation before you moved.”

“I guess it did,” she chuckles, sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table.

“What did you make for me?”

“Fesenjoon.”

“Sounds Persian,” I smile, chuckling when Adena rolls her eyes at me.

“At least in all this time your humor hasn’t changed.”

“Are you complaining?”

“Not at all…” she says, pouring herself some tea.

“So how are you? How has everything been,” I say as she plates up a little bit of everything she has made.

“I’m doing well for myself. I’m not the head of a department, but I’m gaining a name for myself,” she smiles, “you’re going to like it, don’t worry.” I taste a bit of the fesenjoon as Adena watches me intently.

“You made this?”

“Yes, why?”

“You actually cooked this?”

“Yes,” she says with a smile, “you’re being a jerk, aren’t you,” she chimes, shoving me playfully.

“It’s really good,” I chime, “I want some to bring home. You know you’re going to have to cook for me from now on. This friendship is to resume based on this minor fact.”

“It wasn’t going to resume anyway?”

“I mean, I probably was, but now there’s a reason.”

“You’re still an ass hole.”

“Always,” I chime.


	3. Chapter 3

-Kat POV-

“Kat, a word!” Jacqueline calls from the doorway of her office. I walk into Jacqueline’s office to see her sitting behind her desk, “your numbers are doing well, but we need something more.”

“I have several events planned to help get our followers a bit more engaged.”

“Wonderful,” she chimes, “I also want a follow up done on that photographer we had. The one Alex interviewed. I heard you are quite chummy with her.”

“Adena and I are friends, yes,” I say.

“Well then, it shouldn’t be hard to get an interview with her then.” 

“I’ll try my best.” 

“Okay, that’s all. Don’t forget about our meeting after lunch."

“Yes ma’am,” I nod, walking out of her office. I feel my phone begin vibrating in my back pocket, I smile when I see it was Adena calling, “hey.”

“Hello,” she chimes, a smile evident on her voice.

“How’s Paris?”

“It’s fun. I love Paris in the Spring.” 

“I could imagine. I was just speaking to my boss. She would like to do a follow up with you. If you could sit down with Alex again when you get back.”

“I get back Tuesday. I can probably sit down with him Wednesday.” 

“Okay, I’ll let him know,” I chime. 

“I would like to see you again.” 

“Adena, I think we have to discuss what’s going on here.”

“I know, I mean. I want to be friends, of course. But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t starting to have feelings…” 

“I - I know the feeling…”

“There was a lot of time between us, Kat. But I know that I feel like it wasn’t time lost. We picked up where we left off in a way. I just haven’t told you something and I think I should tell you now.” 

“Okay,” I whisper, sitting down at my desk.

“I have a girlfriend,” she mumbles. 

“Oh.”

“I’ve been wanting to tell you. She and I haven’t been on the best terms lately, but that isn’t an excuse.” 

“We can discuss this when you get home?”

“I’m sorry Kat.”

“Don’t be sorry. We’re adults.”

“I know, but still, Kat.” 

“We’ll talk when you get home.”

“Okay,” she whispers, “I’ll call you later?”

“Okay,” I chime.

“Bye, Kat,” she says, hanging up the phone. 

* * *

_ I hear a knock at my bedroom door before hearing it open, “can I come in?” Adena chimes, poking her head in with a smile before walking into the room. I just nod, not being able to talk much, seeing as I had just gotten my tonsils taken out, “how do you feel?” she asks, kicking off her shoes and taking off her coat to lie in bed beside me. _

_ “Like I just had my tonsils out,” I chime, my voice barely audible.  _

_ “I could imagine, do you want anything, Love?”  _

_ “No,” I whine, burying my face in her chest, “thank you for coming over.” _

_ “What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t?” _

_ “A shitty one,” I mumble, feeling Adena’s chest vibrate as she laughs before kissing my forehead. “I love you, Adena.” _

_ “I love you, Kat.” _

_ “If you live me, you’d go downstairs and ask my mom to give you something for me to eat.” _

_ “Okay,” she chimes as she gets out of bed. She comes back a little while later carrying a tray. _

_ “You were gone forever.” _

_ “Your mom and I were talking, she made you some soup. It’s warm, she said to sip it,” Adena explains as I sit up, placing the tray on my lap. Adena and I sit on my bed quietly as we eat. She smiles, moving the tray when we’re done. We make ourselves comfortable again, my head on her chest. I listen to the steady and consistent rhythm of her heartbeat. Feeling myself fall asleep, calmness washing over me. _

* * *

_ I wake up to see Adena was ready a book, running her fingers through my hair lightly, “you’re awake,” she chimes, kissing my forehead. I nod, not being able to find my voice. “Do you want something to drink?” I nod my response, whining when she gets out of bed, “I’ll be right back,” she chimes, kissing my forehead again. She comes back with a glass of water. _

_ “Thank you,” I whisper, taking a sip.  _

_ “How did you sleep?” _

_ “Amazing when I’m next to you,” I smile. _

_ “Well aren’t you sweet,” she teases. _

_ “Are you staying all night?” _

_ “Do you want me to?” _

_ “Please,” I whine. _

_ “I’ll let my parents know.” _

_ “You love me,” I tease, wrapping my arms around her when she sits on the edge of my bed. _

_ “Yeah, yeah,” she chuckles, kissing the side of my head. _

-Adena POV-

“Adena?”

“Yes, Coco.”

“Are you okay?” she asks, walking into the living room to see me sitting in the sofa editing.

“Yeah, getting things ready for this show.”

“You’re always working.”

“You know I enjoy what I do.”

“Yeah,” she scoffs a bit.

“We need to talk.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” I say, closing my laptop.

“Are you breaking up with me?”

“I feel as if it is the right thing,” I say, glancing at her.

“Why?”

“We’ve been on different planets lately. I feel as if we have been drifting.”

“We have, I won’t argue that.”

“So, I think it’s time.”

“Is there someone else?” Coco asks, crossing her arms over her chest.   


“No, there isn’t.” 

“Okay,” she nods.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she says, shaking her head, “I’m going to go.”

“Okay. I would still like to remain friends.”

“Yeah, of course. I just need a bit of time.”

“I understand,” I nod.

“We were fading, but it still stings, you know?”

“Of course I know. But we were fading for a while.”

“Granted. Okay, I am going to get going.”

“Bye, Coco.”

“Bye, Adena.”

-Kat POV-

I walk into the gallery where Adena said she was holding her showing. I’m met with her right away, as she greets me with a smile, “hey.” I chime.

“Hello,” she says, kissing my cheek.

“How are you?”

“Good. Happy to be home. Happy to be showing. You get a sneak peek.”

“I’m lucky, aren’t I?”

“Very lucky. No one ever gets a sneak peek of my showing, not even my manager.”

“So serious,” I chime, laughing as she rolls her eyes. I look around to see all of the photos she had up at the moment. Different women in burkas and hijabs. All holding signs that say different things detailing something about them. 

“What do you think?”

“It’s empowering.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” I chime, looking over my shoulder at her, “it’s inspiring.”

“Thank you,” Adena smiles, walking up next to me, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“You’re welcome,” I chime. 

“Kat.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you doing anything tonight?”    


“Besides this?”

“Yes,” Adena smiles, “besides this.”

“Nothing much, I was going to go hang out with a couple of friends, but I can cancel.” 

“I wouldn’t want you to do that to them.”

“It’s okay, really.”

“No, go hang out with your friends. Really.”

“Okay,” I smile, “we can get together tomorrow if you aren’t busy.”

“I would like that.” There is a moment between us. We stand in a comfortable silence, and hesitation on her part. “I have to get started, it’s getting late.”

“Yeah, of course.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you left, these could get busy and this may be the last time I see you.”

“I’ll hang around for a little bit.” 

“Okay,” she smiles, giving my hand a squeeze.

* * *

“Where were you?” Sutton asks as she opens the door for me.

“I had a thing with a friend.”

“A friend? We’ve been here the whole time,” Jane chimes from the couch.

“Were you with that mystery friend you won’t tell us about?” Sutton chimes.

“Adena,” I sigh, fixing myself a glass of wine, “her name is Adena.”

“Okay…” Sutton trails.

“We were friends since we were six. She moved when we were fifteen and I haven’t seen her in ten years,” I explain. Sutton and Jane look at me with odd expressions.

“There’s more you aren’t telling us,” Jane says, narrowing her eyes at me.

“We may or may not have been a couple…” I say, looking into my wine glass.

“You’re gay?” Jane chokes.

“Bisexual.” 

“Have you been with other women?” Sutton asks.

“Once or twice,” I shrug, “I don’t remember all of my hookups and things like that. My freshman year of college got weird.” 

“So you and Adena were a serious thing?”

“Yeah, as serious as we could be for fourteen.”

“Okay then,” Jane chimes, raising her glass to me. 

“Seeing her again, it brought back something.” 

“So you’re going to see what dating her as an adult would be like?”

“Possibly, I mean, it’s been years. We’re two different people entirely since we last saw each other.” 

“How did things end?” 

“We had an argument, thinking back it was about nothing, which should have been a red flag. And then the next thing I knew I got a letting in the mail from England.” 

“So you went from lovers to pen-pals?” Sutton chimes.

“I guess you could put it that way.” 

* * *

_ I walk through the door after school to see my dad sitting on the couch watching the news, “how was school?” _

_ “Alright,” I shrug.  _

_ “Is everything okay?” _

_ “Yeah, just tired. I’m going to be up in my room.” _

_ “You have mail,” he says, looking over at me. _

_ “Mail?” _

_ “Yeah, I put it on your desk. It looks like a letter from someone.”  _

_ “Okay, thanks.”  _

_ “Mom’s bringing dinner on her way home, she should be in soon.” _

_ “Okay,” I call out as I make my way to my room. I see the envelope on my desk, the handwriting catching my eye right away. I knew who it belonged to, and it was shocking to think I wasn’t going to see it again. I pick it up, reading my address a few times before opening it. I pull out a folded stack of paper, about five pages or so.  _

_ Kat, I know we ended things on a strange note. Strange may not even be the correct word. But I know that I wouldn’t want to do that to you, no matter what the circumstance. By the time you get this, it would be a couple of months since we last spoke. I feel horrible for leaving on such a note. I miss you, Kat. I miss you so much. If I was able to have a say in what took place, I wouldn’t have left. I didn’t know how to explain what was going on, seeing as I was only told an hour before our fight. I was so angry at my parents for not giving me enough time that I took it out on you. And for that, I am so deeply sorry. I know this isn’t going to help in any possible way, but I hope you are able to better understand. I love you, Kat. I miss you so much, it kills me. It took me several times to start and restart this letter to make sure everything that needed to be said was. The main thing is how much I miss you. How much I can’t stop thinking about you. I know I can get in contact with you in so many ways, but this seemed the easiest. Going old fashioned seemed like more of my style as well as making it easier than facetime or something like that. I don't want you to think I abandoned you. Or that I abandoned the idea of us. I feel like one day our paths will cross again, and when they do, it will be at a time when it would be better for us to continue this relationship in a proper way. A more mature and understanding way. I’m not even going to discuss the opposite of that, seeing as I know we will meet again, Kat. Our bond is too powerful for us not to meet again. Whether it be a couple of years or decades, I know we will cross again, and it is something I will look forward to. I think, for now, we should take this time apart and explore without ourselves. Meet new people, do new things. Take time to grow. Of course, we both have to finish high school but beyond that. We both have dreams we want to follow. Maybe this happened a the right time. It happened at a time where we can now start growing in a way that wouldn’t have been beneficial had I not moved. I don’t know. All I do know is, you will forever hold a special place in my heart. There is never going to be someone who will change that, Kat. I love you in for many different ways, there isn’t a single thing that can change that. _

_ The letter when on to tell me about where she is staying in England. How she has no idea what is going on or why her father made them move there for work. She went into detail about what her yard looked like on the day she wrote the letter. The ways she described the color green and the colors of the flowers made me feel as if I was there. Only to look out my window to see the beginnings of Autumn take place. The leaves began to turn different shades of yellows and burnt oranges, as well as deep reds. It reminded me that we are now in different worlds, only to hope that one day we will cross paths again. _


	4. Chapter 4

-Kat POV-

Adena and I were in my apartment, laughing as we told stories of our childhood. I was standing in the kitchen, fixing us each a cup of tea while Adena sat at the table, laughing, a sound I haven’t heard in years. Yet it still sounded the same. “What?” she asks, wiping the tears from her eyes as I place a mug of tea in front of her. 

“I missed your laugh,” I say quietly, sitting across from her, “it hasn’t changed in all this time.” 

“Yours hasn’t either,” she smiles, taking a sip of her tea, “Kat, what are we doing?”   


“What do you mean?”   


“We’ve reconnected, we've been hanging out constantly. I don’t know, but there is something about all of this…” 

“What do you want this to be, Adena?”

“I don’t want to miss an opportunity again.”

“We were fifteen, we never had a chance to make it something. Properly at least.” 

“So I think this is our chance to make it something.” 

“Adena,” I sigh, looking down at the table. 

“Do you not want to?”

“I’m not saying that. I’m not saying that at all.” 

“Then what are you saying?”

“I think we should take things slow. If that’s the route you want to take.”

“Well, I would agree with that point,” she chimes, reaching to take my hand. 

“So we’ll see where this take us?”

“I would like that,” She says with a smile. 

“Okay,” I chime, lacing our fingers together. We smile at each other for a moment, before there was a knock at my door. 

“Expecting someone?”

“No,” I say, walking towards the door and opening it to see my mother standing there with a smile, “hi, Mom!” I chime, wrapping her in a hug.

“Hello, my girl. How are you?”

“Good. This is a surprise.”    
“Sorry for just popping over. I was in the city meeting friends and thought I would come over here,” she says as she walks into my apartment, “Adena?” She says, stopping in her tracks.

“Hello, Mrs. Edison,” Adena chimes, getting up from where she was sat. 

“Oh my god, it’s been years. You look so good,” Mom chimes, wrapping Adena in a hug.

“Thank you. You look the same as the last time I saw you.”

“I knew I always liked you,” Mom says playfully, “how have you been? When did you meet back up with Kat?”

“We met when she was doing a shoot at Scarlet, I didn’t know it was her at first,” I explain, fixing my mother a cup of tea. 

“So you followed your dream of becoming a photographer?”

“Yes, I did. I went to Speos. I traveled a lot. I felt it was time to come back to the states, not anticipating the chance to run into Kat again. I’m happy it happened though.” 

“I’m happy it happened too,” I smile. My mother looks between the two of us, a smile creeping on her face. 

“I see there was no love lost between you two. It seems like you were able to pick up easily.”

“We were, but we’re taking our time to see where things take us,” I explain, setting a mug of tea in front of my mom. 

“That’s great, Sweetie. I always felt like you two would end up together. I don’t know what it is. You girls are just two souls that reconnected.”

“I feel that same way, Mrs. Edison.”   
“I’ve always told you to call me Susan since you were fourteen.”

“You know I’ve had issues with that.”

“You were raised to be polite,” Mom chimes. The two of the catch up in a way. Adena cluing my mother in on everything that took place in her life, all of the places she had traveled to. My mom sat there with a look of awe and amazement on her face, listening to the twenty-five-year-old talk about how she has traveled half of the world all before the age of twenty-one, “I must say, Adena, I am very impressed by the amount of traveling you have done.”

“Thank you, Susan. It was something I was fortunate enough to do and I’m happy I was able to do it.”

“I would be as well, so how’s your sister, what was her name again?”

“Aisha. She’s very well, studying physics at Cambridge. I just got a phone call this morning, apparently, she’s engaged to her boyfriend.” 

“That’s wonderful. Let her know I send my congratulations.” 

“I will, she’ll be happy to know I’ve heard from you, and Kat.”

“You haven’t told her that we’ve met up again?”

“No, every time she calls it’s about her,” Adena shrugs, “and I don’t talk to her as often as I should, so when she called, it was just to tell me she got engaged.” 

“We’ll discuss that later,” I say. The rest of the afternoon consisted of Adena, my mother, and I talking about everything and nothing all over the course of a couple of hours. Once my mom left, Adena and I were alone. 

“Kat,” Adena chimes as I walk up to my closet, changing out of my jeans and into a pair of yoga pants. I look over the railing to see her standing in the middle of the living space, looking up at me curiously.

“Yeah?” 

“I think I’m going to get going.”

“Why?” I ask, walking back down to her. 

“It’s getting late, I have to edit some photos and get every together for my next showing.”

“You don’t have to make an excuse if you want to leave.”

“I just… I want to make sure that this is going to be the right choice. I’m not saying that it won’t but at the same time, I want to make sure that everything that is going to happen is going to be something that we won’t regret. I want to make sure we’re doing this for the right reasons and not to just rekindle something that we lost.” 

“I understand, Adena. I feel the same way, and don’t think I don’t.” 

“I know,” Adena nods. 

“I’ll call you later,” I smile, wrapping her in a hug. 

“Okay,” she whispers in my ear. 

* * *

_ It was her first day of the first grade, and Kat was more excited than she ever has been. Her class was filled with all different kids. Most she didn’t know, and some she remembered from kindergarten as well as some of her neighbors. At recess, she noticed one boy from another class was teasing a girl in her class, being the feisty child she was, Kat walked over and confronted the boy. “Hey!” she shouts, causing the boy to jump, “leave her alone!” _

_ “She looks funny,” the boy chimes, pointing at the little girl. _

_ “So, you look funny too! Leave her alone!”  _

_ “Fine!” He says, running past Kat and the little girl to go play with a group of boys. _

_ “Thank you, I’m Adena.”  _

_ “I’m Kat. You’re welcome, you don’t have to worry, I’ll keep you safe.” _

_ “You want to be best friends?” Adena chimes. _

_ “Okay!” Kat smiles, wrapping Adena in a tight hug. _

* * *

“How are you and Adena?” Sutton asks as she walks over to my desk.

“Is this going to be the question of a lifetime?”

“Probably. Until you start dating, or I find someone to start dating.”

“Well, either you get back with Richard, or get on Tinder.” 

“I don’t know, both seem promising to a degree,” she shrugs. “I just can’t believe you’re bisexual and you didn’t tell us.”

“I feel like I can have some things kept to myself. I don’t need to share everything.” 

“Understandable. But Jane and I are your friends. We would never judge you for anything.”

“I know, that isn’t what I was worried about, I just didn’t feel like telling you. I have every right to come out when I feel like it’s the right time for me. Yes, I’ve known you guys for years now, but it was a part of myself I wasn’t really ready to share.”

“I get it, Kat. You don’t need to defend yourself to me.” 

“Okay,” I sigh, looking at my phone when it starts ringing. 

“It’s Adena?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll leave you to answer it.”

“Thanks.” I take a deep breath before answering the phone, “Hey.”

“Hello. I know you’re at work and I don’t mean to bother you.”

“You’re the only person I would want to bother me at work,” I chime, causing her to laugh.

“Well, I’m happy to know that. I was wondering if you want to get dinner tonight?”

“Is this due to us non-exclusively dating?”

“Partly, and I would like to hang out if that makes it easier.”

“No, I think I like the idea of it being a date.”

“It’s a date then.”

“Are you cooking?” 

“If you want me to.”

“I would like that instead of going out.”

“Come by around six?”

“Okay,” I smile, I look up to see Jane and Sutton watching me with playful grins on their faces.

“I’ll see you later,” Adena chimes.

“See you later,” I say, hanging up the phone, “will you two stop gawking?”

“Can’t we just appreciate the fact that our friend has found someone who makes her happy?” Jane chimes, “or rather, reconnected.” 

“You can, but you don’t have to be weird about it.”

“Sorry,” Sutton chuckles, “we’re just happy.”

“I know.”

“So, you’re seeing her tonight?”

“Yeah, we’re having dinner. She’s cooking.”

“You found yourself someone who can cook?”

“Yes, and I’m happy about it.” 

“Is she a good cook?”

“Yes, she cooks all this Persian food, it’s all so good.” 

“Well, aren’t you lucky,” Jane chimes. 

“I feel like I’m lucky to have her back in my life. Everything else is just a plus.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell us about her?”

“She was in my life so long ago. I never anticipated meeting her ever again,” I shrug. 

“Are we going to meet her properly?”

“What, like all of us hanging out?”

“Yeah,” Sutton says.

“Soon, we’ve been learning everything about each other again and it’s taking time…” 

“So not for a while,” Jane chimes, turning her attention towards Sutton.

“Jane! Meeting!” Jacqueline waves her over.

“Red! Let’s go!” Oliver calls out. Both are gone in an instant.

“Thank, God,” I huff, leaning back in my chair.

* * *

I ring the bell to Adena’s apartment, and she buzzes me in immediately. I make my way up to her apartment knocking on the door. She opens it, greeting me with a hug, “hello.”

“Hey,” I smile, walking into her apartment, “how was your day?”

“Good. I was walking around a bit, taking photos around Brooklyn.” 

“Sounds exciting,” I chime, following her towards the kitchen after kicking my shoes off.

“How was work?”

“Work. Meetings and postings. Nothing exciting going on all that much. It will pick up in May for the Met Gala.” 

“That sounds like it’s going to be fun.”

“I went last year, and it was fun,” I shrug, leaning on the counter as Adena attends to the stove. I walk up beside her, watching as she stirs a couple of pots. She looks at me with a smirk, turning to face me, resting a hand on her hip.

“What?”

“I - I just…” I trail off, taking a deep breath, “I want to…”    


“I never thought I would see you nervous,” Adena teases, stroking her thumb across my cheek, “you were always so confident.” 

“You throw me off my game in our old age,” I chime, causing Adena to laugh. Hearing her laugh calms me down a bit, and I lean forward a bit, kissing her softly. We both savor the kiss, something about it seemed to be more perfect than ever. Adena pulls back first, resting her forehead against mine.

“You’ve gotten better at that in our old age,” she teases.

“So have you,” I whisper, kissing her again.

* * *

_ Adena and I were in her backyard, lying on her trampoline as we looked up into the night sky. Adena was pointing out different constellations that we could see and ones that we should be able to see if it wasn’t for light pollution. I turn to look at her, smiling as she speaks animatedly about the stars. She stops, turning to face me with a smile on her face, “am I boring you?” _

_ “Not at all. I like hearing you talk about things you’re interested in.” _

_ “True, if I were boring you, you’d be on your phone.” _ _   
_ _ “And that is a fact,” I laugh.  _

_ “Hey, Kat,” Adena says, a slight tone of hesitance in her voice. _

_ “What?” I ask, watching as she looks at my mouth before leaning in slowly. I couldn’t help but meet her halfway, kissing her softly.  _

_ “Was that okay?” Adena whispers as she caresses my cheek. _

_ “If it wasn’t I don’t think I would have kissed back.” _

_ “Okay then,” she smiles, leaning in again. _


	5. Chapter 5

-Adena POV-

I open my eyes to see Kat smiling at me, her hair wild from sleep, “good morning.”

“Good morning,” she whispers, reaching over and brushing the hair from my face. 

“How did you sleep?”

“Well,” she chimes, “did you know you talk in your sleep?” 

“No, I did not.”

“Well, you do. It’s cute.” 

“At least it’s cute,” I laugh, leaning in to kiss her, “Do you want coffee?”

“Yes, thank you.” I go to roll out of bed when I feel Kat grab at my forearm, I smile, giving in as she pulls me back into bed, “you don’t have to make it right now,” she chimes, kissing me softly. I fall into her trap for a moment, only to hear my call-to-prayer alarm go off.

“Now I have to go,” I mumble against her lips, “I’ll put the coffee on, and then I have to pray.”

“Pray?”

“Yeah, pray.”

“I don’t remember you being religious.”

“I went through an awakening a few years ago, I got back in touch with my faith,” I explain, watching as Kat looks at me carefully.

“Okay. You pray, and I’ll make coffee and breakfast.” 

“You can cook?”

“I can cook breakfast, don’t get your hopes up,” I laugh, kissing her again.

“There are eggs, and some vegetables in the fridge.”

“Perfect,” she smiles as we both get out of bed. 

-Kat POV- 

I was standing in front of the stove fixing breakfast when I feel Adena wrap her arms around me from behind, “that smells good.”

“It’s a frittata, it’s the only thing I know how to cook.” 

“Well, I’ll pick up your slack,” Adena chimes, patting my shoulder. 

“Whatever makes you feel better,” I tease, watching as she pours us each a cup of coffee.

“How do you take it?”

“Two sugars, and cream.” 

“Do you want me to set the table?”   


“The coffee table?” I tease, “yeah, thank you.” Adena rolls her eyes at me, getting a couple of plates and silverware and going over to set the coffee table. I walk over, placing the pan in the middle before going back to the fridge to get the fruit I cut up. 

“You really raided the fridge didn’t you?”

“I’ve never seen so much good food in a fridge, I took advantage. My fridge consists of bottles of wine and some coffee creamer.”

“Well, I’m happy to fulfill your culinary needs for making breakfast, which I am extremely grateful for,” Adena chimes, leaning in to kiss me quickly. I serve us each a piece of the frittata, having made just enough for both of us. 

“You’re welcome,” I smile, watching as Adena takes a hesitant bite. She looks at me while I watch her, taking a bite and staring at me while she does it, “well?”

“I’m surprised you made this and didn’t burn my kitchen down.”

“Thanks,” I laugh, rolling my eyes. I feel Adena lean over, turning my cheek to face her and kissing me.

“You did good,” She smiles.

“Thank you.”

* * *

_ "Kat, are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Adena asks, walking into the kitchen, hopping up to sit on the counter. _

_ “You're lucky my parents aren’t home, or they would kill you for sitting on the counter. I’m making you dinner.”  _

_ “You’re making me dinner? You don’t know how to cook,” she laughs. _

_ “I’m trying to be romantic,” I sigh, watching as Adena smiles.  _

_ “You barely know how to make toast, your mom always cooks for us.”  _

_ “Well she isn’t here and I want to make you something to eat, it’s easy anyway. Macaroni and cheese.” _

_ “You’re adorable,” Adena chimes getting down from the counter and kissing my cheek, “but you’re going to burn it,” she says, nodding at the pot that was starting to boil over. _

_ “Shit! You were distracting me,” I chime. _

_ “Sorry,” She laughs, patting my shoulder. _

_ “I saved it, you’re lucky,” I say causing Adena to laugh some more. _

* * *

“Are you coming by later?” Adena asks as she walks me to the door.

“I have a work thing tonight.” 

“Oh, okay.”

“You should come. It’s a relaunch party. If you want to come.”

“I’ll let you know, I should really work a bit.”

“Okay, I hope you are able to make it,” I smile, leaning in slightly.

“I’ll let you know, I promise,” she whispers, kissing me softly, “thank you for breakfast.” 

“You’re welcome,” I smile, kissing her again, “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay,” she says with a smile and a nod, “be careful getting home.”

“Always,” I chime, kissing her quickly before making my way out of the building. 

* * *

I walk into the office and over to my desk, essentially sneaking in. Only to have Sutton magically appear out of nowhere next to me, “hello.”

“Hey, Sutton,” I say, not looking up from my computer.

“How was your night?” 

“Fine,” I shrug.

“Glad to know it was fine, did you forget about the fact that Jane was getting an award last night?”

“That was last night?” I ask, whipping my head to look at Sutton. 

“Yes, it was last night. And tonight is the relaunch party, but you probably didn’t forget about that.” 

“I’m not going to be guilted into the fact that I missed her being up for an award, did she even win?”

“No, she got an honorable mention,” Sutton chimes. 

“So there, I don’t have to feel any worse than I already do.” 

“Are you happy with Adena?”

“I’m happy she’s back in my life after all this time, but we’re still going with the flow.”

“I get that, but that doesn’t make it okay to forget certain things,” Sutton chimes.

“You’re going to keep that up, aren’t you?”

“For a little bit,” she shrugs

“You’re a pain in my ass. Don’t you have to get ready for tonight?”

“Yep, and I’m off to do so,” Sutton chimes, making her way towards Oliver’s office.

“You’re lucky you have a really good reason as to why you missed my award last night, and the fact that I didn’t get the award,” Jane chimes.

“I really am sorry.”

“I know you were with Adena so it’s okay, and it’s not like I actually won,” she shrugs, “is your girlfriend coming to the party tonight?”

“She might. She isn’t my girlfriend.”

“She was at some point, that’s pretty obvious.” 

“My business,” I chime, looking at Jane as she rolls her eyes. 

“Okay,” Jane says, holding her hands up as she walks back to her desk. I sigh, getting ready for one of my meetings today before getting ready for the party tonight. I make it back to my desk and flop into the chair, noticing a post-it note stuck to my computer screen. I pull it off, noticing it was Adena’s handwriting, ‘I came by to see if you wanted to get lunch, the receptionist said you were in a meeting, but said she’d give you this note. Call me when you get a chance,’ I smile, sticking it on the side of my desk. I tweet out a few more times before going to another meeting before my day is finally over, taking the time to call Adena after getting into the back of a cab back to Brooklyn. 

“Hey,” Adena says, answering the phone on the second ring.

“Hey, I got your note,” I chime.

“I was hoping you would. How was your day?”

“Long, a lot of meetings, and now I have to get ready for this party.”

“Is my invitation still standing?” 

“Of course it is.”

“When time is the party?”

“It starts at seven, but I’m not rushing to get there. I can be around by seven-thirty.”

“Okay, I’ll be ready by seven-thirty, where is it?”

“Somewhere Downtown, I have the address and know I have to go from Manhattan to Brooklyn and back again,” I sigh, listening to Adena let out a chuckle, “what?” I smile.

“You always complain about things that you’ll end up enjoying,” Adena chimes. 

“Like that one time, when we went to the city as kids?”

“All you did was complain about walking around and then you ended up loving the day. Apparently, you loved the city enough to move here as an adult.”

“Are you surprised though? I mean, after the first time we came here when we were ten, I made my mom take me in as much as possible.”

“I remember, I went with you every time, and your mom gave us a personal tour of the neighborhoods. Every weekend we would explore a different one, and go to the museum and galleries. Your mom helped me fall in love with the city too,” Adena chimes.

“Yeah,” I mumble. 

“I’ll see you in a little while?”

“Yeah, I look forward to it.” 

“So do I.”

* * *

Adena was waiting on the sidewalk as the cab pulled up to her apartment, she smiles, climbing into the back of the cab, “hey,” she chimes, leaning in to kiss me.

“Hey, you look great.”

“So you do,” she smiles, kissing me again.

“Thank you,” I whisper, taking her hand in mine, “are you ready?”

“As I can be, I’m just happy to be going out with you, seeing what you do.”

“Well, I did have a bit of a say in setting it up, so,” I shrug, turning to look out the window.

“Always so smug,” Adena chimes in my ear, kissing my cheek. 

“I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t,” I chime, turning my head to face her. Adena smiles, caressing my cheek before pulling me in for another kiss. Before we knew it, the cab driver was clearing his throat. I pull away from Adena, paying the driver before climbing out of the car and helping Adena. 

“Ready?” She asks, taking my hand in hers.

“I should be asking you that,” I smile.

“Well, it’s your big event, you organized it, yes?” She asks as we walk into the elevator.

“Yeah.”

“So, are you ready to see what you helped organize?”

“Are you trying to make this a bigger thing than it needs to be?”

“Supportive friend,” She says, gesturing towards herself with a smile before we step out of the elevator. I laugh, wrapping my arm around her shoulder, kissing the side of her head.

“I need a drink,” I say, leading the way into the room. I lead the way to the bar, “soda with lime?” 

“Please,” Adena nods. I hand Adena her drink, leading her away from the bar. 

“Kat!” Jacqueline chimes, walking over with a smile, “you did a wonderful job.”

“Thank you, Jacqueline. This is my friend, Adena.”

“Nice to meet you,” Adena chimes, shaking Jacqueline’s hand.

“You did the Spring shoot, right? Adena El-Amin.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” 

“I want to bring you back in for our Summer shoot,” Jacqueline chimes, “you did such an excellent job. I was going to get in touch with you.”

“Really?”

“Yes, if you want to do it. We can have a meeting this week, and discuss scheduling.”

“Sounds wonderful, thank you.”

“I’ll have someone get in touch with you, or I’ll let Kat know,” Jacqueline smiles, “enjoy the party girls,” she says before walking away. 

“I just got offered a job at a party,” Adena chimes, sipping her drink.

“You sound surprised,” I laugh.

“I am, but I’m not complaining,” she shrugs, “how long are we staying?”

“You want to leave already?”

“No,” she smiles, “I’m just wondering.”

“We saw Jacqueline, I say we only stay around for another hour or so before we leave.” 

“Okay,” Adena smiles, leaning in and kissing me.

“So you did bring a date,” Sutton chimes. 

“Adena, you remember my obnoxious friend, Sutton?”

“Of course, how are you, Sutton?”

“I’m good, how are you?”

“Well, thank you,” Adena says politely.

“Would you mind if I steal Kat from you for a little bit?”

“I don’t want to be stolen,” I whine.

“Go, I’ll call you if I can’t find you,” Adena chimes. 

“Fine.”

“Stop whining,” Adena chimes, “I’ll see you in a little bit,” she smiles, kissing me softly. I willingly get dragged by Sutton to the other end of the dancefloor. 

“Is there a good reason you took me away from Adena?”

“We miss you and would like to have one drink with you,” Sutton chimes as we walk up to a table where Jane was sitting.

“One drink and then I’m going. We aren’t staying long anyway.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to.”

“She’d rather go have sex with Adena,” Sutton chimes loudly.

“No, actually.”

“You’re going to tell me you haven’t had sex with Adena yet?”

“No, we haven’t,” I say, looking around to see if I could find her.

“Have you ever?” Sutton asks, leaning on her elbows.

“No, we haven’t.” 

“Not even when you were younger?” 

“No. Do I need to go back to things being my business? So on that note, I love you both and will see you later,” I say, finishing off my drink and walking back to where I left Adena, not surprised to see she is nowhere to be found. I go into my bag and see she has texted me, letting me know to meet her outside when I was done. I follow what Adena says and see she is sitting in the lobby on the building, smiling when I walk over to her. Adena whispers something in Farsi before kissing my cheek. “Thanks,” I chime, much to Adena’s surprise.

“You remember what that means?”

“You would always tell me how beautiful I was, and you would always say it in Farsi,” I smile. She then whispers something different, “that I don’t understand.”

“So I will keep it my secret, for now,” she smiles, leaning in to kiss me.


	6. Chapter 6

-Kat POV-

I walk around my apartment, trying to straighten things up. No matter how often I am here or not, my place always seems messier than when I last remember seeing it. I sigh, walking over when there was a knock at my door before Adena walks in with a smile. “I may regret giving you a key,” I tease, walking over to kiss her quickly.

“I have a surprise.” 

“Not a fan and you know it.”

“This one you’re going to like, I promise,” Adena smiles, going back out into the hall, “close your eyes,” she chimes, peaking in the doorway. I close my eyes, waiting for her to get along with this surprise. 

“Open,” a different voice says. I furrow my brow for a moment before opening my eyes to see a face, similar to Adena’s but a few years younger.   


“Aisha? Holy shit, little Aisha?” I say, giving her a hug, “I can’t believe it. You look amazing, how old are you now?”

“Twenty,” she smiles.

“Wow, and congrats on your engagement, and the fact that you are going to find aliens one day,” I tease.

“Aliens are not real, and I am not studying space. That’s Astrophysics, I’m studying Physics, laws of gravity on this planet, not how it’s manipulated in space.”

“You were always smarter than Adena and I combined,” I laugh, pulling Aisha in for another hug. I missed you, Little Nerd.”

“Awe, and here I thought you forgot our nickname for her,” Adena chimes. 

“Never, Aisha will always be our Little Nerd,” I tease.

“And I will still resent you both calling me that,” Aisha chimes as she rolls her eyes.

“How long are you in the states?”

“Just a few days, I came over to see how Adena was doing and she said she met back up with you again, so I figured I’d make a point to visit.” 

“That’s her way of saying she didn’t want to be alone today seeing as I had plans with you already.”

“You could have canceled with me to spend time with Aisha,” I say, walking up to Adena, she smiles, reaching out and rubbing my arms.

“You’re sweet,” she smiles, leaning in to kiss me.

“You two are still gross, even after your decade-long separation,” Aisha chimes, making a gagging noise.

“Well, when hopefully your fiance is your soul-mate and you don’t have to understand the feeling of being away from someone for so long,” Adena smiles, kissing me again. 

“Are you two even officially dating again?” 

“We haven’t discussed that yet…” I trail off, “do either of you want anything or do you want to get out of here?”

“Where would we take her?” 

“We can kill two birds with one stone, your love for museums, and Aisha’s love for learning,” I chime.

“Ooh, I’m always in for a museum trip,” Aisha times.

“Nerd,” Adena teases, “we can go to Central Park too, it’s too nice of a day to pass up walking through the park.”

“Can we go to the zoo too?”

“You are running up the bill, Kid,” I say, walking over and getting my things.

“So? You missed me and are going to treat me, yes?”

“Of course, Little Nerd,” I tease.

“Wonderful, we’re going to have so much fun.”

“I’m just not taking you shopping on Fifth Avenue, that will break my bank.”

“Fine,” Aisha sighs, “can we go now?”

“Of course. Where to first?” 

“Back to my place, I need my camera,” Adena chimes.

“You actually left without it? I’m shocked.”

“I didn’t know we were going to be going over to Manhattan, I wasn’t prepared.” 

“She wasn’t prepared, says the woman that brings her camera grocery shopping,” I tease, causing Adena to shove me playfully.

“Are you two going to be this gross all day?”

“Possibly, get ready for it,” Adena chimes.

“Ugh,” Aisha groans. Adena turns to me with a grin as I lean in and kiss her softly. 

“Let’s get your camera.” 

-Adena POV-

_ I was sitting at my desk, editing a few photos when I hear knock at my bedroom door, “yeah?” I call out, still facing my computer.  _

_ “Love?” My mom chimes, causing me to turn and face her. _

_ “Yes, Mama?”  _

_ “You said you wanted to talk to me? Your father gave me the message.” _

_ “Y-yeah.”  _

_ “Is everything okay?” Mom asks, walking over to sit on the end of my bed. _

_ “Yeah, I just want to tell you something. I don’t know how you’re going to feel…” _

_ “Is this about you and your relationship with Kat?” She chimes, reaching over and taking my hands in hers, “don’t look so shocked. I am your mother and I see everything,” she smiles, caressing my cheek. “What do you think I’m going to say?” _

_ “You hate me…”  _

_ “And what makes you think that?” _

_ “Stereotyping,” I scoff, feeling the tears well up in my eyes.  _

_ “Well… I know enough to know that this isn’t something you can help. I’m not going to damn you for it. Nor am I going to disown you or anything like that. I’m going to love you and support you no matter what. This is something you’re going to have to experience alone, and that upsets me the most. I’m not going to be able to help you with your feelings or help you understand things and that’s going to hurt me more than anything in the world. But I am happy at the fact that you unwillingly fell for Kat,” Mama laughs, wiping the tears from my cheeks, “I could imagine Kat is going through the same thing.”  _

_ “I think so too,” I nod. _

_ “Adena, you are my firstborn.” _

_ “Does that make me the favorite?” _

_ “I love you and your sister equally, you are both my favorite. But I know that someone as beautiful as you, at fourteen, would have started bringing boys around by now. I’m not implying anything, but I know that it was odd that your father and I haven’t seen any boys around. And Kat was someone that took up a lot of your time, more so than to be just friends. So ultimately, your father and I caught on, but we both promised we weren’t going to pry. We were going to wait until you were ready to tell us.”  _

_ “Baba knows too?” _

_ “Your father caught on well before I did,” Mama laughs, “you don’t have to worry about him either. We love you no matter what, Adena. Granted your grandparents wouldn’t feel the same way, so let’s not let them know. They are old-fashioned.” _

_ “I didn’t plan on telling them,” I say, shaking my head. _

_ “Okay. You’re a smart girl, Adena. You have your whole like to make up your mind and explore your feelings, just know that your father and I will support you as much as we can. A lot of things you’ll figure out on your own, but I’m here to listen.” _

_ “Thank you, Mama,” I say, getting out of my chair and wrapping her in a hug. _

_ “You’re welcome, Love. One last thing though.” _

_ “What?” _

_ “I’m going to get to it before your father does, when Kat comes over from now on, open door policy.” _

_ “Okay,” I say, rolling my eyes. _

_ “Thank you,” she smiles, kissing my forehead. _

* * *

Kat, Aisha and I walk through Central Park Zoo, much to the excitement of Aisha. I feel Kat walk up beside me, placing her hand on my the small of my back before kissing the side of my head. I turn slightly and smile, kissing her properly, “where’s Aisha?”

“Trying to take a selfie with a snow monkey.” 

“Ah,” I nod, taking a photo of a polar bear. 

“Everything okay?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I want to talk about what Aisha brought up…” 

“About being a couple? Officially.”

“Yeah,” Kat smiles.

“We still have to take the time to learn about each other. We’re running based on memories of past selves, we don’t know if everything is, in fact, the same.” 

“I know. I also know I want to maybe try…”

“Maybe try?”

“You said it earlier, we are soul-mates…”

“And so you want to try to be together rather than saying you want to fully be together.”

“We don’t know each other as adults, we have to learn a different aspect of ourselves…”

“I just said that,” I chime, rolling my eyes.

“I know, and I want to learn. I want to have our memories and build new ones…”

“The stupid monkey wouldn’t come back over to me,” Aisha complains as she looks at her phone, “sorry, am I interrupting something?”

“No, we were just discussing us leaving and going to the museum.”

“Okay,” Aisha shrugs, “whatever you want to do.”

-Kat POV-

“I think you tired her out,” Adena chimes, looking over at her sister who was asleep in Adena’s bed.

“Giving in to letting her shop of Fifth Ave was both a blessing and a curse,” I shrug as Adena walks me to the door.

“A curse to your credit card?”

“Yes,” I sigh, bowing my head. 

“Are we going to finish our discussion from earlier?”

“Do you want to go out? Officially?” Adena smiles, caressing my cheek as she pulls me in for a kiss. 

“You know you’ve never asked me that?” 

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” she laughs, resting her forehead against mine.

“What did we do in high school then?”

“Pretty much what we’ve been doing for the past month.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, close enough to it before I moved.” 

“Oh right, that happened.”

“Don’t be a jerk,” Adena mumbles, placing her hands on the back of my neck, playing with my curls.

“What?” I whisper, wrapping my arms around her and holding her close.

“Have you been with anyone else over the years?”

“Long-term?”

“Yeah.”

“No, I haven’t. It’s been hard to find the time, especially with my career. I know you were with Coco when we met up again, was there anyone else?”

“Just Coco,” Adena says, shaking her head a bit.

“Does this matter?”

“No, just curious.”

“How long is Aisha here? Not that I don’t enjoy the fact that she is, cause I do…”

“But you hate the idea of going home to sleep alone tonight?”

“I would rather spend my night with you.”

“I know. She’s only here until Monday.” 

“Two more nights of not sleeping beside you.”

“It seems like it,” Adena smiles, kissing me softly. 

“I’ll talk to you when I get home.”

“I wish you would stay.”

“There isn’t enough room for me to stay.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Spend time with your sister, I’ll see you when she leaves.”

“You’re going to last until Monday?”

“Possibly,” I shrug, “if I don’t, you’ll know I’ll be knocking on the door.”

“So I should be expecting you tomorrow around noon?” Adena teases. 

“Most likely,” I laugh. 

“Try to separate yourself for one day. Go see your friends, I bet they miss you.”

“Probably, but I’ve missed you so much…”

“We can make up for lost time all we want, I think tomorrow you should go hang out with your friends.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” I shrug.

“Don’t sound so happy,” she teases.

“I’m going to be miserable until Monday.”

“Stop yourself, Kat, you’ll survive. I’ll text you tomorrow,” Adena says, kissing me softly, “and go see your friends.”

“I will, I promise,” I nod, kissing her again.

* * *

I walk up to Jane and Sutton’s apartment, knocking on the door. I wait, hearing the faint shuffling sound behind the door. “Look who it is,” Sutton chimes.

“I came with apology wine,” I smile, holding up a bottle of red as Jane comes up behind Sutton.

“It looks expensive,” Sutton chimes to Jane.

“It does,” Jane nods.

“I guess you can come in,” Sutton says melodramatically before smiling, taking the wine from my hand.

“To what do we owe the pleasure of you finally showing your face to us?”   


“Adena’s sister is visiting.”

“Ah, girlfriend is too busy,” Sutton chimes, walking into the living room from the kitchen with three glasses and the bottle.

“Yes, we have not become second best,” Jane teases.

“It’s not like that,” I sigh.

“Are you going to stop being vague about Adena and let us in a bit?” Sutton asks as she hands me a glass of wine.

“She’s the only person I have ever been in love with in my life, and nothing has changed in ten years. I still love her more than I could ever bring myself to love anyone. The fact that she is back in my life again just verifies that everything about my feelings for her is something that was never meant to change.”

“Did Kat just say she was in love with someone?” Jane asks Sutton, not so quietly.

“I think she did,” Sutton nods.

“And she is in love with a woman?”

“Confirmed.”

“You two make it seem so foreign.”

“It is,” Sutton chimes, “all this time we just thought it wasn’t your thing, but all along you’ve been so deeply in love with someone.” 

“Yep,” I say, popping the end of the word before taking a sip from my glass.

“Why haven’t you told us?” Jane asks.

“Some things I do like to keep to myself. Besides, why would I tell you about someone that I wasn’t sure I would ever see again? That would have been a waste.”

“Understandable,” Sutton chimes.

“Yeah, so I wasn’t going to tell you about someone who still means so much to me, without it being guaranteed that I would see her again. Adena always knew we were going to see each other again. She was sure of it though,” I smile.

“You have it bad, don’t you?”

“Bad enough to know that I haven’t wanted to be with anyone else in the past ten years, and I haven’t planned on being with anyone long term… if that makes sense.” 

“It does,” Sutton nods.

-Adena POV-

“Are you and Kat going to get married?” Aisha asks randomly, causing me to spit out my water, and essentially choke, “sorry. I didn’t mean to nearly kill you.”

“What do you even mean?”

“Well, it’s obvious you two never stopped loving each other. And you and I both know Coco was only because you hate being alone, so my question stands.”

“I don’t know if we’re going to get married… I’m just happy to know she’s in my life again.”   


“Well, you aren’t getting younger and I know Mama and Baba are going to want to see you get married one day, not just me.” 

“Yeah well, when I’m ready to go down that road, I’ll let you know.” 

“Fair enough,” Aisha shrugs. 

* * *

I smile when I hear a knock at my door, knowing it was going to be Kat, I barely open the door before Kat is throwing herself at me, pulling me in for a kiss, “did you miss me?” I tease.

“More than I care to ever admit,” she mumbles against my lips.

“How was your time with your friends yesterday?”

“Nice, we sat around and drank wine, watched crappy television. It was nice to spend time with them, but nothing compares to being with you.”

“I don’t want to be the reason you don’t hang out with your friends.”

“I know,” Kat sighs, walking over and sitting on the couch. 

“So don’t forget to hang out with them too.”

“I know. After yesterday, it made me realize that I missed them. Maybe next time I hang out with them you can come with me?”

“I’d like that, but your time with them doesn’t mean I have to tag along.”

“But I want you to be friends with them too. I don’t want to always have to choose.”

“You still have that problem?” I chime, sitting down beside her and running my fingers through her curls.

“I’m indecisive and co-dependant.” 

“Has your mother ever looked further into that?” I tease as I lean in to kiss her.

“No, she hasn’t looked deeper into it, but she has made an issue of pointing it out all the time. Especially when you first moved, I was a mess. She pinned it on me being co-dependent on you in an emotional way.

“Well, I’m here now. No matter how much time has passed.”

“I know,” Kat nods, kissing me again, “At least this time around, if you chose to leave, I could just come with you."

“I don’t plan on ever leaving.

“Okay,” she smiles, nodding her head a bit. 


	7. Chapter 7

-Adena POV-

I invite myself into Kat’s apartment with the key she gave me, “Kat?”

“Loft!” I hear her call out as I walk into the living space, placing a bag down on the kitchen table, “is that?”   


“Happy Birthday,” I chime, turning to face her with a smile as she walks towards me with a wide smile on her face, wrapping me in a hug as I lean in to kiss her. 

“You didn’t have to get me anything, and these balloons are awesome,” she chimes, take the bouquet of balloons and putting them by the window. She walks back over to me, holding me by my waist, “thank you,” she whispers, leaning in and kissing me softly. 

“You’re welcome,” I whisper against her lips.

“Are you ready to go?” 

“You don’t want to open your gift?”

“Do you want me to open it now?”

“If you want to,” I shrug. Kat smiles, going over and taking the bag from the table. I walk up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist as she looks in the bag, “what is it?” she asks over her shoulder.

“A gift.”

“I know that, but what  _ is _ it?”

“If I tell you, I wouldn’t have put it in a gift bag,” I mumble in her ear, kissing her neck, “and don’t say how yo don’t like surprises, I already know.”

“Yet, you continue surprising me,” She chuckles, turning to kiss me before pulling the tissue paper from the bag. She pulls out the contents, looking at the wrapped gift that was now on the table, “did you wrap several things and then once I get to the end it’s something silly like a gift card.”

“That’s never been my style, Kat. You know well enough, or should remember well enough.”

“Right, your style is more sentimental,” she smiles, tearing away the paper, “a photo album?” 

“Yes, are you surprised?”

“You’ve had all these pictures of us?”

“You know I loved taking pictures, and there were a lot of us my parents had from birthdays and things like that. Do you like it?”

“I love it,” she says, flipping through the pages, “I remember this day,” she laughs, pointing at a photo of us, “we were most likely, what, eight?”

“I think so, that was the Halloween we went to that haunted house on our street.”

“And you nearly broke your arm when you fell running out of there.”

“I was scared,” I chime.

“Your father was hysterically laughing.”

“He was a jerk.”

“Remember that night? I slept over your house…”

“We stayed up half the night eating candy and you almost threw up in my bed from too many Reese’s.” 

“I didn’t eat a peanut butter related item for a long time after that,” Kat laughs, turning through the book some more, “why is the end of it empty?”

“I was thinking we could fill it in, and makeup from the lost time.”

“Your sentimental side gets to me sometimes.”

“In a good way?”

“Of course,” she smiles, kissing me softly, “thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Are you ready? I want to get away from this city for the weekend and walk on a beach.”

“Isn’t that why we’re going to the Hamptons?”

“One of the reasons,” Kat shrugs, kissing me again, “we do have your birthday tomorrow,” she smiles.

“That’s right.”

“Did you think I was going to forget?”

“Never,” I chime, kissing her softly.

-Kat POV-

Adena and I walk into the house we were staying in for the weekend, right on the beach and not far from town, “is this the same place you used to go in the summers when we were growing up?” Adena asks, standing at the back door and looking at the ocean.

“Yeah. My aunt owns this place, she’s away at the moment.”

“What is it your aunt does again?”   
“Her husband works on Wall Street,” I shrug, “but that doesn’t matter. I’m the only person who is lucky enough to have their own key to this place.”

“Clearly you’re the favorite.”

“When you work for a fashion magazine, there are some perks that come with it. I send her a care package every season of different things,” I shrug.

“So you maintain the status of the favorite with bribery?” 

“Exactly,” I laugh, wrapping my arms around Adena and resting my chin on her shoulder.

“I’m going to change,” Adena chimes as she turns in my arms, placing her hands on my shoulders.

“Okay.” Adena smiles, leaning in to kiss me, “the bedroom we’re going to be staying in is down the hallway, first door on the left. If you don’t want to share a room with me, you can stay in the room right across the hall.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to stay in the same room as you?”

“I don’t know,” I shrug, “just giving you options.”

“If I wanted options, I wouldn’t have agreed to spend the weekend alone with you.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

“You suppose?” Adena laughs, “Kat, what do you want out of this?”

“You and I to take a proper chance at being together. We’ve been dancing around the topic for weeks, and I think it’s time we stop dancing around and commit already.”

“You’ve given me the key to your place, you and I basically switch off what place we stay at, I’ve given you my key. I thought we were committed?” Adena chimes, leaning in and kissing me.

“Well, I guess I missed that memo.”

“I think so,” she laughs against my lips, “I’m going to change. That pool looks nice,” she smiles, kissing me again.

“Okay, I’m going to run and get some stuff for the weekend.”

“Do you want me to cook at all?”

“Can you make the fesenjoon stuff?”

“Get what I need to make it,” Adena smiles, “I’ll text you a list, and you want hummus too I assume?”

“You know me all too well,” I laugh, kissing her quickly.

“Be careful when you go out,” she chimes, stepping out of our embrace and grabbing our bags, bringing them to our room.

* * *

I walk into the kitchen with an armful of things for dinner as well as the rest of the weekend. I put away things that needed to be put away before walking out of the kitchen and towards bedrooms. I look out the open french doors that looked out towards the pool, stopping in my tracks when I see Adena, lying out on a lounge chair in a maroon bikini, her skin sparkling as the water reflected off of it, “Sweetheart, I suggest you wipe the drool from your chin,” she teases with a smile, causing me to react by wiping at my chin like an idiot. She laughs, pushing her sunglasses to the top of her head.

“Y-you. I mean… I… Uhm,” I stammer, causing Adena to laugh even more.

“Go change, let’s see if you can make me forget how to form coherent words.” I do as I’m told, nearly running into our shared room and changing into the royal blue bikini I brought with me. I get changed, pulling on a short, white silk robe, and closing it as I walk back to the door and stand in the doorway, “that’s disappointing,” she chimes. I laugh, walking across the patio and sitting on the edge of the lounge chair beside her. Adena sits up, face me as she reaches for the belt of the robe. She opens the robe and sighs, her eyes fixed on my body.

“You’re starting to drool now,” I say, playfully wiping at her chin. I pull the robe off the rest of the way, standing up and walking over to the edge of the pool. I look back at Adena before diving in. I swim to the opposite end of the pool and get surprised when I see Adena close behind me. She breaks the surface with a smile, wrapping herself around me before pulling me in for a kiss.

“Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?”

“Yes. In several languages in fact,” I chime, kissing her again, “I only know how to say it in English, which is boring, but you are very, very beautiful.”

“At least you can say it in one language,” she whispers, kissing me again.

“I don’t want to be an ass hole and ruin the moment,” I say, causing Adena to roll her eyes.

“You want me to start on dinner?”

“Please,” I smile, kissing her sweetly. 

“I’m stealing that robe of yours,” she chimes, swimming to the edge of the pool and climbing out.

“Is that a tattoo I see?” I sing, swimming over to the edge of the pool where she had just climbed out.

“Have you missed the others?”

“Those on your arm are small, they aren’t anything if you ask me.” I climb out of the pool, walking up behind her and running my fingers over the ink that ran along the side of her ribcage, “did it hurt?”

“Yeah,” she says through a laugh, “especially right where your fingers are right now,” she whispers. I couldn’t help myself from dropping to my knees and kissing where my fingers have just touched. I feel Adena run her fingers through my hair.

“What does that mean?” I ask when she says something in Farsi.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she chimes, walking back into the house. She lets out a laugh as I chase after her, grabbing her by the waist from behind and lifting her up, “Kat!” she shrieks, laughing as I carry her into the bedroom. I toss her onto the bed and stand over her as she looks up at me, a curiosity in her eyes that was part amazement and part wonder, “don’t start something you’re too nervous to finish,” she whispers, sitting up and caressing my cheek. “Before you argue with me, I can see the hesitation in your eyes.” 

“I want to,” I mumbled, resting my forehead against hers.

“But I can tell you’ve never been with a woman, sexually and this isn’t something I want to rush or feel as if we are obligated to do it for some weird reason. When the time comes to get caught up in the moment, I want to see the confident Kat Edison that I miss so much.”

“Okay,” I nod. “H-how can you tell I haven’t been with a woman?”

“Your lack of confidence.” 

“Really?”

“Yes,” she nods, “when you aren’t sure of something you want to do, you lack confidence. You always have,” she smiles, kissing me before making her way into the kitchen. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter picks up where the previous left off.

-Kat POV-

I walk into the kitchen to see Adena was starting to get dinner ready. I walk over, sitting at the counter as she chopped different things, putting them in a pot, a silence was between us. I played with a lemon, rolling it between my hands on the counter, “I love you,” I say, causing Adena to stop what she was doing. I look up at her to see a wide range of emotions dance across her face. 

“Come again?”

“You heard me. I’ve loved you for over ten years and there isn’t anything that has changed that, or that will change that. You are the only person I am capable of loving to the fullest extent of my being. I just want you to know that. For ten years, I haven’t been able to love anyone else. I’ve tried and it’s been the hardest thing for me to do. I was at the point where I was set on the fact that I was going to fall into something in my life and not be able to give it my all. I don’t want to waste my time trying to fill a void anymore. You came back into my life for a reason and I just want you to know I love you with so much of me, and I don’t think that’s going to change. I may have never been with a woman sexually, but I know that I want to give you everything I can offer.”

“Kat,” she coos, walking around the counter, wrapping her arms around me, pulling in for a kiss, “I love you too,” she whispers, kissing me again. “I’m sorry for before. I just want us to have the proper experience when we are first together. Not that it wouldn’t be worth it no matter when we choose to go down that path. I just don’t want to rush it, as I said.”

“I know,” I nod, leaning in to kiss her. 

“So, you’ve been in love with me all this time, huh?”

“Yes, I have.”

“I’ve been in love with you all this time too, I don’t even think I loved Coco as much as I love you.”

“Well, our fate was in the stars, wasn’t it?”

“That’s very sappy of you,” Adena teases, “I’m going to finish dinner if that’s okay with you.”

“It’s my birthday dinner, of course, it’s okay with me.” 

“Do you want to eat here or at the table?”

“Here is fine.”

“Set the counter then, when it’s time to eat.”

“Of course,” I smile, watching Adena walk back to the other side of the counter. I get up, wrapping my arms around her from behind, swaying us back and forth. 

“Would you care to help me?” 

“I’m a risk if I’m not making breakfast.”

“But I’m pretty sure you’re able to chop some herbs.” 

“You’re going to force me to, aren’t you?”

“What do you think?” she chimes, pushing over a cutting board with herbs on it as well as a knife. 

“Is this a foolproof job?”

“If it wasn’t I wouldn’t have given it to you,” Adena teases, bumping her hip to mine. 

“There is something domestic about this.”

“Remember that time when we were playing house?”

“And you wanted to be the husband,” I tease.

“I didn’t want to stay home with our baby!” 

“I know, you left me to take care of the baby while you ran around the yard taking pictures.”

“We played that game all the time in the summer.”

“We played that game all the time no matter what, and my dad would make us a fort all the time and that would be our house while you’d run around upstairs taking pictures.”

“Remember that picture I took of your teddy bears?”

“You set them in poses and made it look like a photo shoot for them.”

“I still have all of those photos. They’re somewhere, my mom might have them. When I go home I’ll have to look for them.”

“You’re going home?”

“For Aisha’s wedding.” 

“Oh…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I mutter, shaking my head a bit.

“You’re coming with me, Kat. I wouldn’t be going if you weren’t allowed to come, and besides, Aisha wants you at the wedding.”

“When is it?”

“In the spring. I think the second week of April.”

“So we have time,” I smile.

“Yes, we do. But I am going back for a weekend in October. If you want to join me for that you can.”

“Just the weekend?”

“Yeah, it’s my father’s sixtieth birthday. You’re more than welcome to come. He would love to see you,” she smiles, rubbing my shoulder. 

“Maybe I’ll take you up on that.”

“I hope so,” she chimes, kissing me softly. 

* * *

I wake up the next morning to the sensation of Adena kissing my neck. I hum, turning over to face her, opening my eyes to see her smiling at me, “Happy Birthday,” I chime, pulling her into me and kissing her forehead.

“Thank you, Love.”

“We’re getting old.”

“No, we’re not. Besides, you’re only as old as you feel.”

“Well, since you’ve come back in my life, I feel like I’m fifteen again,” I whisper, leaning in to kiss me. 

“Is that a good thing?”

“I think so, it was the only time in my life I could say I was truly happy and felt the most loved.”

“Well, hopefully, that feeling picks up now.” 

“I think it will,” I smile, kissing her again, “so, how would you like to spend your day?” 

“Stay in this bed all day with you,” she whispers, leaning in to kiss me, “but I would like to explore a bit. Maybe go down to the beach, do you know what time it is?”

“It’s a little after nine,” I say, checking my phone for work.

“My parents going likely going to facetime me any minute,” Adena chimes, and like clockwork, her phone started ringing.

“It’s like they know,” I tease, kissing her cheek before moving to get out of bed.

“No,” Adena says, grabbing at my arm, “stay, they’re going to want to see you,” she smiles, answering the call.

“Happy Birthday, Love!” Ester and Armand say in unison as soon as they appeared on the screen.

“Thank you,” Adena smiles, making herself comfortable against the crisp white sheets. 

“Where are you? It doesn’t look like your apartment,” Armand chimes. 

“Kat and I went away for our birthdays.”

“Where is Kat?” Ester chimes.

“She’s right here, do you want to see her?”

“Of course!” Ester chimes, Adena laughs, moving so we were both in the frame.

“Hi,” I smile, giving a small wave.

“Look at you, Kat. You look so grown up!” 

“You look great, Ester. As do you, Armand.”

“It’s nice to see the two of you together, Aisha said it was like nothing changed,” Armand smiles.

“We pretty much were able to fall back into place,” Adena smiles, leaning in and kissing me. 

“That’s wonderful,” Ester smiles. Adena and I catch up with her parents for about an hour before we say our goodbyes.

“When you book your flight to go there in October, let me know.”

“You want to come home with me?”

“Yeah, it would be nice to see them. See where you spent the rest of your teenage years before exploring the world.”

“You’ll love London.”

“I look forward to it,” I smile, leaning in to kiss her, “if we stay here any longer, you’re going to get your wish of staying in bed all day,” I whisper against her lips as she kisses me again.

“No, I’m going to shower, I want to go into town,” Adena chimes, rolling out of bed and walking into the bathroom, listening when the shower turned on. I lie there for a moment, staring up at the ceiling before letting curiosity get the better of me. I walk into the bathroom, leaning against the doorframe as I get caught up staring at Adena’s nude backside. I watch as she runs her fingers through her hair, almost as if she knows I’m standing there, “have you turned into a pervert over the years,” she teases, looking at me over her shoulder with a smirk. 

“No,” I say shyly, shaking my head, “I just wanted to admire my girlfriend’s body.” 

“Ah,” she chimes, turning around to face me for a moment before stepping into the shower. I feel myself move in an auto-pilot kind of way. Ridding myself of my pajamas and stepping into the shower behind Adena, she turns to me and smiles as I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her into me before kissing her softly, “your confidence is showing,” she teases, kissing me again. She pulls back with a smile, caressing my cheek. I smile, leaning in and kissing her neck, “Kat,” she laughs, I smile against her skin as I feel her laugh vibrate through her. 

“I love your laugh.”

“What else do you love about me?”

“We’re going to risk the shower turning cold?” 

“True, I would like to actually shower too,” Adena smiles, stepping under the water more. We both shower, and get dressed. Finding ourselves standing in front of the full-length mirror in the hallway, I was wrapped around Adena while she took a picture. 

“Send that to me?”

“You want to post it to Instagram?” 

“Yes, I would. Speaking of, do you have one?”

“Seems a bit late to be asking that,” Adena teases.

“I know, I just never thought of it until now,” I shrug.

“And it doesn’t matter today, but it is just my name.”

“Okay,” I chime, kissing her cheek before grabbing my bag, “ready?”

“Yes,” Adena smiles, fixing her hair under the wide-brimmed sun hat. 

* * *

We find ourselves walking down main street hand in hand, window shopping as we went along before we walk into an art gallery. Adena pulls me into the gallery as I look at my phone, tweeting different things for work. I look up and realize where we ended up, chuckling a bit, “what’s funny?”

“Nothing,” I smile, shaking my head.

“Tell me,” she chimes, pushing my shoulder. 

“Only you would end up in an art gallery for fun.”

“What can I say? I love creativity,” Adena shrugs, leaning in to kiss me.

“Something I lack slightly.”

“No, you’re creative. It may not be in this sort of way,” she says, gesturing to the paintings and sculpture around us, “but you are in your own way.”

“Thanks,” I smile, kissing the side of her head. 

“Are you okay? We don’t have to stay.”

“No, we can stay. I want to stay, I know you enjoy this.”

“Thank you,” she smiles, leaning in to kiss me, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

The rest of the weekend went by faster than anticipated and before we knew it, Adena and I were curled up on my couch watching Netflix when there was a knock at my door, “expecting someone?”

“It may be Sutton and Jane,” I chime, getting up from the couch. As soon as I open the door, Sutton came barging it with a bouquet of balloons, as Jane trailed close behind with a bottle of wine. I smile, hugging them both tightly. 

“How was your weekend?” Sutton chimes.

“Good, Adena and I were just watching a movie.”

“Happy Birthday to you too, Adena,” Jane smiles, handing a gift bag to Adena. 

“Oh, thank you, Jane,” Adena chimes with a smile.

“You’re welcome.” 

“So, I’m assuming you don’t want to go out to celebrate?” Sutton chimes, gesturing to the fact that I’m in joggers and a sweatshirt. 

“Not really, maybe we can go out tomorrow after work for drinks? Adena is busy with meetings and I do miss hanging out with you guys.”

“Whatever works,” Sutton chimes, throwing herself down on the couch, Jane following her lead. 

“I’m going to get going,” Adena whispers in my ear.

“You don’t have to go,” I murmured, wrapping my arm around her waist. 

“Spend time with your friends. I want to look through the photos I took this weekend anyway.” 

“Okay,” I nod, walking her to the door. 

“I’ll call you tonight, and text you when I get home.”

“Be careful getting home.”

“I will,” Adena smiles, leaning in to kiss me.

“I love you,” I whisper, kissing her again.

“I love you, too,” she smiles, “thank you again, ladies, for the gift,” Adena adds, walking out the door.

“Did you just tell Adena that you love her?” Sutton asks with a furrowed brow.

“Yes, I told her over the weekend that I love her,” I say, walking to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of wine.

“You told someone you love them?”

“I’ve always loved Adena, that’s why I haven’t been able to tell anyone else?”

“What if you never met with her again?” Jane asks as I hand her a glass of wine.

“I don’t know, but I know that I wouldn’t have been able to love anyone the same way I love Adena,” I say, looking up from my glass to see the two of them looking at me curiously, “what?”

“It’s just weird, we’ve known you for so long, never knew a single thing about Adena and yet she’s someone you’ve been in love with since you were a teenager,” Jane shrugs.

“I know, I just didn’t feel the need to tell you guys about a part of my life that I wasn’t guaranteed to cross paths with again. It’s not like either of you talk about your high school boyfriends or whatever else.”

“Understandable,” Sutton shrugs, “do you think this is a sure thing?”

“Yes. If she didn’t move it would have been a sure thing a long time ago. It scares me to say it, but I would have probably been married to her by now.”

“Our little Kat, first she talks about love and now she said she would have been married,” Sutton teases. 

“Honestly, I don’t think I ever thought the words love and marriage would come out of your mouth, Kat.” 

“I know, I never thought I would either, but I’m happy to know I’m able to feel that way again as an adult and know what I felt at fifteen is real.”

“You’ve grown up,” Sutton chimes.

“Yes, I have,” I laugh.


	9. Chapter 9

-Kat POV-

I rushed around the apartment, making sure I had everything I needed for spending a week in England with Adena, visiting her family. I, of course, am the surprise for her father’s birthday. “I’m finishing up and then I’ll be over,” I tell Adena as she FaceTimes me.

“Okay, don’t rush, though. We have time, you look nervous.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, Love, everything will be okay and everyone is going to be excited to see you.”

“I know, but still. I just am nervous about it.”

“Don’t be, everything will be okay. Are you nervous about them or are you nervous about the flight?”

“The flight…”

“Have you ever flown before?”

“No,” I admit, shaking my head.

“I’ll be with you, and there is nothing to be nervous about,” she smiles, “finish packing and get over here.” 

“Okay,” I smile, doing as I’m told.

* * *

I walk into Adena’s apartment to see her standing in front of the stove. I walk up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist, “hello,” she chimes, turning to kiss me quickly, “would you like a coffee?”

“Please,” I smile, kissing her cheek. 

“Do you have everything you need?”

“I’m pretty sure, I mean, we’re only going to be there a week, I packed mainly casual, except for two outfits for going out and your dad’s party.”

“Did you pack warm clothes, it may be colder than you’d think.”

“I’m prepared, don’t worry.”

“I’m not, I just don’t want to hear you complain,” Adena teases. 

“There are stored in England, if I had to shop,” I state, smiling when Adena laughs a bit, “what?”

“Nothing,” Adena smiles, shaking her head, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

“Love, I can’t feel my hand,” Adena mumbles in my ear, I let her hand go, rubbing it a bit to help her regain circulation.

“I’m sorry,” I say, kissing the back of her hand. We were on the plane, not yet ready to take off but that didn’t stop the fact that I was having a panic attack. 

“It’s going to be okay,” Adena whispers in my ear, kissing my cheek, “I’m here and everything will be fine.” 

“Oh shit,” I mumble as the plane began to move, much to Adena’s enjoyment seeing as she chuckled at how I was acting.

“Close your eyes,” she says, I do as I’m told and she begins to rub my back and hum in my ear, calming me down a bit. I open my eyes and look over to see Adena was reading a book, but still rubbing my back, “you fell asleep,” she says with a smirk, looking over at me.

“What time is it?”

“Not sure, but we still have about four hours.” 

“Oh, okay.” 

“Do you feel better?”

“My heart rate is finally normal, so I think I’m good,” I smile, Adena runs her fingers through my hair, leaning in and kissing me softly, “thank you,” I say, resting my head on her shoulder.

“For?”   


“Being you. For always being you.” I feel Adena kiss my forehead before resting her head on mine. I wake up again, only this time it was due to Adena shaking me a bit, I look over at her to see her smiling at me. 

“We’re here, sleepy head.”

“Finally,” I grumble standing up and stretching as best as I can. I follow Adena off of the plane and into the terminal, she takes my hand in hers as she calls her sister, letting her know we landed and were on our way to baggage claim. We get our bags and start walking towards the exit when we see Aisha standing by the door, she smiles, walking towards us and giving each of us a hug.

“Are you ready to collectively give my parents a heart attack?” Aisha teases as we walk out onto the rainy sidewalk, “Welcome to England where there is a ninety percent chance of rain and overcast for the duration of your stay.”

“Lovely,” I groan, causing Aisha and Adena to laugh at me while Adena reaches for my hand, lacing our fingers together.

“You’ll live,” Adena whispers in my ear.

“Just barely,” I tease, causing Adena to shove me playfully.

“We have a bit of a ride, so does anyone want anything?” Aisha asks. 

“Coffee,” Adena says through a yawn. 

* * *

We pull up to a quaint looking English home, something stereotypically English and I fell in love instantly, I get out of the car and take in the small neighborhood, the houses a bit more spread out, and despite the gloomy day, the foliage was changing colors and there were different shades of reds and oranges on the trees, bringing a beauty to the scenery. “You’re quiet,” Adena whispers in my ear, wrapping her arm around my waist.

“It’s beautiful here,” I say, “I want to come back in the Spring.”

“Of course,” she smiles, “Mother’s birthday is in the Spring.”

“Perfect,” I smile.

“I’m not your luggage girl, you two better get your bags yourselves,” Aisha chimes, walking into the house. Adena rolls her eyes and grabs our bags. 

“Where would your dad be?” 

“In his study, just past the kitchen on the left, it’s the sunroom, he wanted it to be his study,” Adena chimes as we walk into the house, “come upstairs first, I’m not carrying it up there,” she chimes. I take my bag and follow Adena up to what I could only assume was her old bedroom, “this looks like your apartment at home, your style never changed.” 

“Thank you,” she smiles, walking over and kissing me softly, “want to go give my parents a heart attack?” She teases.

“Okay,” I laugh, following her down the stairs and into the kitchen where her mother was getting things together for dinner, “What’s up, Ester?” I chime, causing her to jump slightly, putting her hands to her chest before smiling and walking over to swat at my arm. 

“How did you sneak in here?” She chimes, giving me a hug, “you always had a way of doing that.”

“Things never change,” I laugh, “where’s Armand? I’m his birthday present this year.”

“He’s in his study, just through there,” she says pointing to a doorway. I go where she tells me, and stand in the doorway, watching as Armand reads a newspaper.

“Happy Birthday, old man,” I chimes, he folds his paper, looking over the top of it with a smile.

“Well, if it isn’t Kat Edison, you’ve turned into an adult almost as quickly as Adena did,” he chimes, getting up from his desk and wrapping me in a hug, “how are you?”

“I’m well, how are you?”

“Surprised,” he smiles, “you still look like you did when you were fourteen, just a bit taller,” he laughs, “how is Adena treating you?”

“Very well.”

“And how are you treating her?” He asks, folding his arms over his chest, going into a protective-dad-mode.

“Just the same, Sir, you never had to worry about that.”

“Things were innocent when you were teenagers, you’re both adults, there is a difference now.” 

“I know, but there is still nothing to be worried about, I love your daughter and always have. There is nothing to be concerned with.” 

“I trust you, Kat. I do, but Adena is still my daughter, I will always worry.”

“I understand, my father would be the same way.”

“Marcus doesn’t know that you two are together again?”

“I think he does, but we haven’t seen him since we’ve been together. My mom probably told him for all I know,” I laugh.

“How is Susan?”

“She’s great, they both are.”

“Wonderful to hear that,” he chimes looking at me before looking just past me with a big grin on his face, “there she is!” He chimes, going over to where Adena was standing in the doorway.

“Happy Birthday, Baba,” Adena chimes, wrapping her father in a tight hug.

“You look like you’re glowing,” he chimes, holding Adena at arm's length. 

“I think Kat is to thank for that,” Adena smiles at me, holding her hand out to me. I walk over taking her hand in mine and kissing the side of her head. 

“And I am happy to thank her,” he smiles, “make yourself at home, Kat.”

“Is it okay if I take the car? Show Kat around?”

“Of course, yours is in the garage.” 

“Okay, do you want to go out for a little bit?” 

“Sure, so long as there is coffee is involved.”

“Of course,” Adena smiles, kissing me quickly, “we’ll be back in a little bit.”

“Just be careful.”

“Always, Baba.”

* * *

“Where are you taking me?” I ask as Adena takes my hand in hers.

“Hogwarts.”

“You couldn’t resist the Harry Potter reference while we were here?”

“Of course not. Oh, don’t deny the fact that you loved when I would read to you.”

“That was the only way I was able to get through that series."   


“That was the best thing about that summer, what were we, twelve?”

“I think so. I remember you were so excited to achieve the goal of wanting to read the whole series in one go. And then we watched all the movies.”

“That was a fun weekend,” Adena chimes, “especially when your dad set up the backyard movie theater.” 

“That is one of my favorite memories.”

“Remember when almost half of the block ended up joining us for our movie marathon?”

“It didn’t take long either, as soon as the credits started rolling everyone started coming over,” I laugh.

“We have a lot of great memories, don’t we?” She smiles, kissing the back of my hand.

“We do,” I smile, leaning over and kissing her cheek.

“Are you okay?” Adena asks when I get quiet.

“Do you think things would have been different if you stayed? Like, if you didn’t move, do you think we would have stayed together?”

“Do you want an honest answer?” 

“Of course, I wouldn’t want to be lied to.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I don’t think so either,” I admit, looking out the window to see we were pulling up to a beach. She puts the car on park and turns to look at me. 

“Can we discuss why we both think that way?”

“We would have ended up coming to a point where we would have wanted to go down our own paths. You would have wanted to do your photo thing and I would have wanted to go to college for communications. I think we were given the chance to grow up before we were brought back together.”

“I agree,” Adena chimes, taking my hand in hers and playing with my fingers, “do you think that we are going to be together for a while?” 

“Is that your way of wanting to talk about the potential of being married?”

“Not even married, but a commitment to each other for a long period of time.”

“So married.”

“If you want to call it that,” Adena chimes, rolling her eyes.

“That’s what it’s called, Adena. And if I’m being honest, I don’t know if it’s something I want, even with you.”

“What’s the supposed to mean?”

“The whole idea of being tied down is one that I don’t really agree with. Not that I don’t love you and all, but the idea of marriage is something I never saw for myself. I want to be with you, I want to commit myself to you, but I don’t know if I want the full thing of what it is to marry you.” I look over to her to see a range of emotions dance across her face, she opens her mouth and closes it several times before turning away from me. She turns again, almost making an attempt to talk to me before going against it and getting out of the car, walking onto the sand. I sit there for a moment, watching Adena make her way to the shoreline, running her fingers through her hair. I sigh, getting out of the car and walking over to her, I walk up behind her, wrapping my arms around her. She jumps a bit, looking over to see me before bowing her head and letting out a small whimper. 

“Kat, please,” she says, wiggling out of my grasp. 

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I don’t want to hear it,” she says, shrugging me off.

“Come on, Dena.”

“No, Kat. Just give me a little bit.”

“I don’t know how to get back to your house from here! And I don’t know how to drive! Can we at least go back to your house and then I’ll give you all the time you want.”

“I just don’t know what kind of answer I was expecting… I feel like you would have been interested in the idea of us being married, but I don’t know you as well as I thought I did. There is still a lot to learn.”

“I want to learn more about you. I want to learn everything about you now. I don’t want to live solely in the past. I want to live in the now.”

“I do too,” Adena says, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“We don’t know what will happen over time, my mind could change. But I know that I want us to grow more together and be present.”

“Okay.”


	10. Chapter 10

-Adena POV-

I walk into the room to see Kat sitting in the chair I had in the corner of my room, her feet up on the window seat as she looked out the window into the backyard. I walk over to her and sit on her lap, Kat wraps her arms around me, kissing the top of my head. “I’m sorry for getting upset earlier.”

“I’m sorry for provoking it,” she mumbles against my forehead.

“I just thought that…”

“Can we talk about this when we’re home in New York? I don’t want there to be a weird tension between us because of something we don't agree on at this point in time.”

“I understand,” I smile, leaning in and kissing her, “I still love you, even if we disagree on something that would drastically change our lives.”

“I just want to enjoy life with you and learn everything about you again. I love you too, and I want to just grow with you before making a life-altering choice.”

“Well, yeah. I guess it is life-altering, seeing as marriage talk, leads to talking about kids, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want them.”

“I don’t really want kids either, I’d rather get a dog.”

“We would adopt a dog, for sure.”

“So we’re already going to discuss getting a dog together?” She smiles.

“It’s a step, I suppose,” I shrug, I watch Kat carefully as she, quite honestly, stares into my soul. There was a curious look in her eye as she did it, I couldn’t quite understand where it was coming from.

“You’re eyes shift a lot when you’re thinking.”

“You can tell I’m thinking?”

“You’re most likely wondering why the hell I’m looking at you for long,” Kat laughs.

“Exactly,” I say through a laugh.

“I’ve always liked looking at you. I sometimes wonder what I did to have the universe bring you back to me. As unintentionally possessive as that sounds.”

“I feel the same way though.”

“Hopelessly in love,” she teases, leaning in to kiss me. I run my fingers up the back of her neck, playing with the loose curls that fell out of the bun she had her hair in. I feel Kat shift in the chair slightly, not breaking our kiss as she stands up, lifting me in her arms in one swift motion. She makes her way over to my bed, gently laying me down before standing over me for a moment, looking for a clear answer that it’s okay for her to continue what she has in mind.

“It’s okay, Kat,” I say, sitting up. I reach up and caress her cheek and she bends over to kiss me.

* * *

I wake up to the sensation of Kat drawing absentminded shapes on my bare back. I turn my head and face her with a lazy smile. “Hello, sleepyhead,” she chimes, kissing the side of my head.

“You wore me out,” I say, cocking an eyebrow, “are you sure you’ve never slept with a woman before?”

“Positive,” she says through a laugh.

“Could have fooled me,” I chime, “you have always been a fast learner though.”

“I will take that as a compliment,” Kat smiles, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I say, turning over in bed, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before turning to face Kat, “has anyone come looking for us?”

“I haven’t heard anything,” Kat says through a yawn.

“Did you sleep?”

“I did, not as long as you, but I did get some sleep.”

“So long as you did,” I say, moving to kiss her quickly before getting out of bed. I walk over and pull on a t-shirt and a pair of pants when I turn to see Kat looking at me with a strange look in her eye. “You okay?”

“You are just so beautiful,” she smiles as I walk over to her side of the bed, she moves, sitting up and wrapping her arms around my waist, resting her head against my abdomen. I smile, running my fingers through her hair.

“I’m going to go see where everyone is.”

“Okay,” she says, looking up at me with a smile. I leave the room, making my way downstairs to see that everyone had left. I go into the kitchen to see my mother left a note explaining that she and my father had some things to do and they didn’t want to wake Kat and me. “Did they leave us?” Kat asks, walking up behind me and wrapping her arms around my waist.

“Yeah, Mom had some stuff to take care of, and my dad went with her,” I say, holding up the note, “what do you want to do?”

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Kat shrugs, kissing my neck.

“It seems like you have something in mind.”

“I’m actually pretty hungry.”

“What do you want?” I say, turning in her arms.

“Surprise me?”

“You can either call something or find something here,” I say, walking over to see what was in the fridge and cupboards, “there isn’t much. I think that’s where my parents went. Do you want to go out?”

“Yeah, if you want to.”

“Are you okay?”

“Is it selfish of me to say I want to go back to bed, I want to take you back to bed,” she chimes, wrapping her arms around me, pulling me in for a kiss.

“So you’re not hungry anymore?”

“I’d rather be in bed with you,” Kat says as she shakes her head.

“I know you would, but I am hungry.”

“So let’s just have cereal and call it a day.”

“Just like old times,” I laugh.

“There’s nothing here to really eat, and I don’t want to go out, so it’s the next best thing,” kat shrugs.

“You make a decent point.”

-Kat POV-

Adena and I found ourselves curled up on the couch in the den, watching TV as we shared a box of cereal between us, something about it was juvenile, yet satisfying and familiar. I look over at Adena to see she was engulfed in the Netflix documentary we were currently watching, “you’re giving me that look,” she says with a smirk, glancing over at me.

“What look would that be?” I ask, placing my empty bowl on the coffee table in front of us.

“Admiration.”

“Are you complaining about me admiring you?” I ask with a laugh.

“No,” she says, shaking her head as she leans in and kisses me, “you can admire me all you want.”

“And I do already,” I chime kissing her again, we pull apart when we hear the front door open.

“Adena!”

“Coming,” Adena calls back as she goes to help her mother. I gather our bowls, bringing them into the kitchen, washing the quickly as Adena and her parents make their way back into the house with different bags from shopping.

“Do you need any more help?” I offer, helping Ester with what she had in her hands.

“No thank you, Dear,” Ester smiles, patting my cheek.

“You’re welcome,” I smile.

“Kathryn,” Ester says in a serious tone as she starts unbagging everything.

“Y-yes.”

“Are you and Adena planning on being together for a long time?”

“What are you asking?”

“You know what I’m asking.”

“We’ve only been back together for a short period of time, I know we have a past but…”

“I want to know Adena will be taken care of regardless. You two don’t have to get married if you don’t want to. I just want to know that you came back into her life for a reason, that you and Adena will be together. I need to know she is going to settle.”

“That’s up to her.”

“You have a big part in her making that choice, how you treat her really decides on how she feels about staying.”

“I know. Trust me, I want you to understand that I will do my best to make sure she… look, I have always cared for Adena, more than I could ever care for anyone else. There is something about the connection I have to her that has made it difficult for me to even think about being with anyone. And everything I say is contradicting, but I know that even if I don’t want to marry her in the sense of what that means, I know that I want to protect her and be with her. I want you to understand that there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for Adena.”

“She needs stability, Kat.”

“I know she does.”

“So don’t fuck it up.”  
“I have no intentions,” I say reassuringly, smiling at the fact Ester cursed.

“Mama, after all these years, do you still have to scare Kat?”

“I’m not scaring her,” Ester says, waving Adena off.

“She wasn’t scaring me,” I say, walking up beside Adena and wrapping my arm around her waist.

“I promise, Love, I wasn’t scaring Kat,” Ester smiles, “Everyone is coming over tomorrow around noon, it’s going to be a long day for your father and me, please be out of bed by nine the latest, I’m going to need both of your help.”

“Of course, Mama,” Adena chimes, kissing Ester on the cheek, “we’ll be upstairs if you need us.”

“Okay, Love.”

“What was my mother talking to you about?” Adena asks as we walk into her room.

“Nothing important,” I say, shaking my head.

“You can’t lie to me, Kat. I saw that you were scared to death from whatever she said.”

“She just brought up marriage.”

“Your favorite topic,” Adena teases, “no wonder why you looked mortified.”

“It wasn’t just that, she was doing the whole intimidation thing as a parent, she just wanted to know that I would be there to care for you no matter what.”

“I know the thought of commitment is something that scares you, but I also know that deep down, you are open to it.”

“That’s true,” I whisper watching Adena carefully. She smiles, walking up to me and kissing me softly.

“I love you, Kat. Nothing will change that.”

“I know. I feel the same way.”

“And that’s really all that matters,” she says, kissing me again. 


	11. Chapter 11

-Kat POV-

“Dena?” I call out as I walk into her apartment, hearing her talking on the phone far off in the apartment, she turns and smiles, walking over and kissing me on the cheek as she finishes up her phone call.

“Hey, Love,” she chimes, hanging up the phone and kissing me again, “how are you?”

“I’m good, how are you?” 

“Very well. I just got off the phone with my manager, and I have a date set for my next showing,” she chimes, “I can’t wait.”

“That’s great news,” I say, wrapping her in a hug. 

“It is. The showing is on the seventh, at seven,” she says, furrowing her brow, “what is it?”

“I may have a work thing, but I can try to get out of it,” I say, walking over to get my phone from my bag. 

“Kat, don’t worry about it.”

“No, I want to go. It’s just a party I don’t have to be there long.”

“If it’s for work though…”

“I’m not missing your showing. A party with the same people and the same stupid theme doesn’t matter half as much as going to my girlfriend’s gallery showing.”

“But I know how much you love your job, and I don’t want to impose.”

“Adena, I know you love your job just as much as I love mine, and yet, your job is a hell of a lot more important when it comes to having a show. I’ll skip the party this month, there will be one next month, we won’t know when your next showing will be.” 

“That’s sweet, I mean it sucks that we won’t know when my next showing will be…”

“Which is all the more reason for me to skip my work thing and come be with you,” I smile, leaning in to kiss her softly.

“I love you,” she whispers.

“I love you, too.” 

“You really don’t have to miss your party.”

“I am, it’s already decided.” 

“Fine, are you staying tonight? The weather is supposed to get bad.” 

“Even if it wasn’t going to snow I was going to stay.”

“It’s hard to get rid of you sometimes,” Adena teases before walking towards her computer.

“You want me here all the time, don’t act like you don’t,” I chime as I throw myself on her bed.

“I know, but we still come to a standstill when I walk about living together.”

“I know I do,” I say as I start to sit up, “I may reconsider.” 

“You say that like it’s a business deal you’re thinking about taking on,” Adena chimes, turning in her chair to face me.

“Well living together isn’t something to take lightly, I mean, what happens when I find out you’re hiding the fact that you have some weird fetish, and I come home one day to see you dressed up as a furry or something.”

“You really just said that?” Adena laughs, looking at me with narrow eyes and a playful smile. 

“I did. Is this your coming out?” I tease.

“It is,” she says playfully, “I can finally live as my true self and don’t have to feel guilty about it.” I stare at her for a moment before laughing hysterically. Adena laughs, walking over and pushing me onto my back and straddling my waist, “do you know how ridiculous you are?”

“Somewhat,” I shrug, wrapping my arms around her waist, “I already deal with the fact that you snore, so there isn’t much to worry about in moving in together.”

“I don’t snore.”

“Yes, you do and it’s adorable.”

“Well, at least it’s adorable,” she says, rolling her eyes, “are you serious about moving in?”

“I feel like it’s right. I feel like it’s time to just take that step, it’s been a month since we’ve gotten back from your parents’ and we haven’t discussed it or anything. But it feels right.”

“Okay,” she smiles, leaning in to kiss me, “now we just have to discuss whose apartment we’re going to live in, or get a new place together?”

“Mine is all taken care of, you know that.”

“And my lease is up in three months.”

“So we’re going to live at my place?” 

“Sounds like a plan,” Adena smiles, leaning in to kiss me.

“Thank God.”

“What does that mean?” 

“I love my apartment and wouldn’t have wanted to give it up.” 

“But if it came to it, you would have compromised if need be.”

“Of course,” I sigh, leaning in to kiss her softly, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

Sutton, Jane, and I were sitting in a bar after work, Jane currently talking about some kind of injustice and how she was writing an article about it, “Adena and I are moving in together,” I say, breaking Jane from her rant.

“And?” Sutton says, resting her elbows on the table.

“We’re going to move into my place. Her lease is up in the next few months and we’re looking forward to it.” 

“Well that’s good,” Jane chimes. 

“I think so. I hope it will be good for us.”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

“I’ve been single for so long, I’ve lived alone for so long and there is something about it that feels… invasive?” 

“But it isn’t like you’re finding a roommate on Craig’s List, Adena is your girlfriend,” Sutton says. 

“I know - ”

“But,” Jane chimes, “there is no but, Kat. You’re going to take this step with Adena and there is nothing to worry about.” 

“I have a couple of months to still freak out,” I chime, taking a sip of my drink.

“Everything will be fine,” Sutton says reassuringly.

“You’re right. Both of you are right.”

“Hear that Jane? We’re right,” Sutton teases, clinking glasses with Jane as they both laugh.

“It doesn’t happen often, so we better just relish it,” Jane chimes. 

“I hate you both,” I say with a laugh, downing the rest of my drink before getting up from the table, “and yet, I love you both very much, but I must end this get together.”

“On the note of us being right, I’m perfectly okay with that,” Sutton chimes.

“Well soak it in, you know it doesn’t happen often. Love you both.”

“Love you!” Jane and Sutton say in unison as I walk out of the bar. As soon as I step onto the sidewalk, my phone starts to ring. I reach into my bag, smiling when I see Adena was calling. 

“Hey,” I chime.

“Hey, how was your day?”

“It was the same boring day, meetings, and meetings. Did I mention meetings?” I smile as Adena laughs on the other end, “have I ever told you how much I love your laugh?”

“I believe it has been a topic of discussion.”

“Well, it’s a fact that needs to be discussed often.” 

“We’ll have time to talk about it every day in the future,” she chimes, “are you coming over?”

“Do you want to come over my place for a change? I feel like we’re always at your place.” 

“I’m on my way over now.”

“You may get there before me, so just let yourself in.”

“Okay, Love.”

* * *

I walk through the door of my apartment to see Adena was standing in the kitchen, swaying to the music that was playing from the record player across the room. I stood there for a moment, taking in the scene in front of me. Something oddly domestic about it made me smile at the idea of this being my future. “Are you okay?” Adena smiles, walking over and wrapping her arms around me.

“I’m wonderful,” I smile, leaning in and kissing her.

“That’s good to know, I started making something to eat. Are you hungry?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she smiles, kissing me again.

“I’m going to go change,” I say, making my way upstairs to my closet, changing quickly. I come back downstairs to see Adena setting the table. She looks up at me for a moment and smiles as I walk over to her, wrapping my arms around her waist, holding her close.

“Are you okay?” Adena whispers, tucking one of my curls behind my ear. I nod, leaning in and kissing her gently. “You’ve been abnormally quiet.”

“I was just talking with the ladies earlier about things and I’ve been thinking,” I shrug.

“Thinking about what?”

“Nothing important.”

“If it’s keeping you quiet, it is probably very important.”

“I hate that you know me so well.”

“I know, but you never had the tendency to fight it.”

“I know,” I laugh, kissing her quickly, “it’s contradictory to my first statement, but it is something I love about you.”

“Well that is wonderful to hear, can I ask you something?”

“You’ll ask it whether I say no or not.” 

“Are you uncertain about us moving in together?”

“I was.”

“What changed your mind?”

“Seeing you when I walked in just now. Seeing you here, cooking, dancing,” I smile, “I realized it isn’t something worth freaking out over.” 

“You know how I want you to talk to me when you’re having doubts. If you were having second thoughts…”

“No, it wasn’t like that. I want to live together, it was just the idea of it that was a bit overwhelming… you know what, there isn’t a way to explain how I feel without it sounding like I was second-guessing,” I sigh, “it was really about the fact that I feel as if I’m so set in my ways as for as living alone, and the idea of disrupting that was something that made me nervous. But I mean it when I said I changed my mind when I walked in here before.”

“You didn’t have an issue when it comes to coming to my house all the time.”

“I know, I think it’s just the fact that I’ve been on my own in this space for so long, and we agreed to move in here…”

“Why don’t we do a trial run. Instead of always spending time at my apartment, we’ll spend more time here together, seeing as we’ve never done that.”

“I like the sound of that,” I say, kissing her quickly before she goes to plate up dinner.

“You know, we also haven’t talked about getting a puppy,” she chimes, walking back towards me a placing two bowls of rice and vegetables on the table. 

“Is that your segway?” I laugh, walking over to the fridge and getting out the bottle of wine, pouring myself a glass.

“It is,” she laughs, reaching into the fridge to get the pitcher of water, kissing my cheek before she went to the table, “I was thinking a rescue puppy. But I will compromise if you decided on wanting a purebred.” 

“Well isn’t that courteous of you,” I tease, joining her at the table. We eat dinner while discussing our future puppy and the name they will have, after cleaning up Adena and I ended up on the couch to watch a movie on Netflix. I kiss the top of her head as she curls into my side to watch the movie on my laptop. I feel Adena kiss my neck as she starts wrapping her arms around me, “that’s your way of saying you don’t want to watch the movie,” I chime, closing my laptop.

“I just don’t feel like watching the movie anymore.” 

“You want to talk, don’t you?” I ask, putting my laptop on the coffee table and resting my head against the back of the couch. 

“I mean, we don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to talk about,” Adena chimes as she repositions herself on the couch. 

“But I know you want to talk about the things that I don’t.”

“We always hit this spot, don’t we?”

“We always have, there isn’t a change,” I laugh as I mirror the way she is sat on the couch.

“Do you think we wouldn’t have lasted had I not moved?”

“Didn’t we talk about this once?”

“I think so, but it’s still something that I think about.”

“I don’t know how to answer that question, I never know how to answer that question,” I say, scratching my head, “I think it was meant to be, and it was for the best, I think we would have been pulled in different directions that we would have fallen apart faster than we could have imagined. Our career choices would have torn us apart at a time where it would have been crucial for us. We would have been too focused on work to care for each other the right way. And I feel like I would have held you back in a way had you stayed on America. You needed to go to Europe when you did. It was meant for you to go to Speos and all of that, if you would have stayed here, I don’t think you would have given yourself that opportunity.”

“Have I ever told you how kind you are?”

“In some form or another, yes.”

“I think everything you just said is true, and I am grateful for what has happened between us.”

“I am too,” I smile as I leaned over and kissed her softly.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”


	12. Chapter 12

-Kat POV-

I walk through the door to see clothes falling from the closet about, it wasn’t until I saw an old pair of my sneakers to realize Adena was cleaning out the closet space, “Dena?”

“Yes?” She calls out from the depths of a pile of clothes.

“Why did you throw my sneakers overboard?”

“Those were mine,” she says, sitting down and looking up at me.

“No, they’re mine.”

“No, these are mine. They were from sixth grade, I drew moons all over them. Yours had stars,” she said, holding up the pair that had stars on them, “see?”

“I can’t believe you remember that.”

“You say that every time I remember something,” she laughs, standing up from where she was sitting and walking over to kiss me, “I remember everything about us, and you seem to still be amazed by it.”

“I will always be amazed by it,” I whisper, kissing her again.

“So I want to throw mine away.”

“Why? That was a big deal for us, remember when we painted them?”

“You got paint on the dining room table and your mother almost killed you.”

“Exactly. That’s a memory that comes to mind when I see them and is one I am thankful for never coming to fruition.”

“So why don’t we save one of yours and one of mine, we need the room.” 

“Deal, mine are in the Vans box on the shelf, just swap one out.” 

“No problem,” she says, kissing my cheek, “how was work?”

“Long, meetings. I think I’m going to take some time off soon.”

“Oh yeah? What do you want to do?”

“Nothing, just relax. Be with you, not think for a week. I have so many unused vacation days, I can afford a while off, and the holidays are coming up so I don’t think I’ll go back until after the New Year.” 

“Would you be interested in going away for that time?”

“Going away where?” 

“Where ever,” she shrugs, “I would personally like to stay in the states, maybe go over to the west coast, but we can go international if you want.” 

“We’ll look into it. I don’t know if I want to go away in that sense, I would love to just stay home and chill, you know?”

“Of course, Love.”

“What are we doing for dinner?” 

“Whatever you want,” Adena smiles, handing me a pair of sweatpants and a tank top when she sees me starting to change out of my dress from work.

“Something light?” I say, changing into what Adena gave me.

“I got stuff to make a salad, so you want that?”

“I’ll go take care of that, you finish purging.”

“Whatever went overboard is going to be donated, if you want to look through it or if Jane and Sutton want to rummage through it before I give it away, have fun.”

“I’ll let them know.” 

“Is everything okay, Love?” Adena asks, looking at me with concern as she stands up.

“Yeah, I think I’m just coming down with something.” 

“Is this still about me moving in?”

“No, no. I just genuinely feel shitty and don’t know what it is.”

“Maybe you’re getting burnt out. You said it yourself, you work nearly every day even if you aren’t in the office. You should take a break from work.”

“Yeah,” I sigh, smiling when Adena reaches out and caresses my cheek, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she chimes, leaning in and kissing me as she wraps her arms around my waist. I feel Adena pull me as close to her as possible, deepening the kiss. I feel her pull away, resting her forehead against mine, “take me to bed,” she whispers, kissing me again before leading me by the hand down the stairs. Once we get to the bottom of the stairs, Adena starts playing with the hem of my shirt as she pulls me in for a kiss. 

“Adena,” I mumble.

“Yeah?”

“I’m not really in the mood,” I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“Okay, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” I smile, pulling her in for a soft kiss, “I just told you, I’m not feeling well.”

“I see that,” She says, getting quiet for a moment before asking, “Have you been to the doctor?”

“I made an appointment this morning for Thursday,” I answer, rubbing my forehead.

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, you don’t have to.”

“You’ll let me know if you change your mind?”

“Of course,” I smile, kissing her cheek, “I’m going to lay down.”

“Okay.”

* * *

Adena places her hand on my knee to stop it from bouncing erratically, resulting in me picking at my nails, “Baby, calm down,” she whispers, taking my hands in hers while we continue to wait to be called into the doctor's office.

“I’m trying,” I say, looking at her. She smiles, caressing my cheek as she says something to me in French, “what does that mean?” I smile.

“Kat Edison?” The nurse calls, breaking us from our bubble.

“I’ll tell you later,” she says, kissing my cheek before I get up, holding my hand out for her to take.

“Can she come with me?” I ask.

“Of course,” the nurse smiles. Adena takes my hand, lacing our fingers together as we walk into the room, white and uncomfortable, just like every other examination room in a doctor’s office. I take off my coat, handing it to Adena as she sits down in the chair in the corner of the room. I sit on the table, rolling up my sleeve as the nurse gets ready to take my blood. I look over the nurse’s shoulder, catching Adena’s eyes, she smiles, chuckling when I make a face as the nurse stuck the needle in my vein. She finished up the rest of her exam before exiting the room. Adena stands up, putting the coats on the chair as she walks over to me, taking my arm and kissing the bandage where the nurse just took my blood.

“What?” She asks softly.

“I’ve been going to these appointments by myself for years, it’s nice to have you with me.”

“Well, hopefully, you won’t have to go to another one on your own,” Adena smiles, leaning in and kissing me softly.

“I know you’ll always come with me,” I chime, kissing her again.

“Well, when the time is right,” she teases suggestively. 

“I walked into that one didn’t I?” I laugh.

“Just a little bit.”

“Ah,” I nod, taking her hands in mine, playing with them.

“Are you nervous?”

“I just don’t want to know that the medication is too low. If it is, I have to make sure it gets back up and there’s so much that could happen in the in-between, you know?”

“Yeah, I remember. Are the headaches still as bad as they used to be?”

“If not worse, there have been times I’ve gone into work with sunglasses on and never took them off.”

“Do your co-workers know?”

“No, I didn’t even tell Sutton and Jane. Everyone just assumes I’m hungover.”

“Why not tell them?”

“I don’t like people to worry about me.”

“But you shouldn’t feel that way.”

“I know, but I don’t think I’ll grow out of it.”

“You let me worry about you, why is that different?”

“We have a history that goes back to being six years old.”

“And you’re in love with me.”

“And I’m in love with you,” I laugh, kissing her quickly, “but I think the main point is people worrying about me, I don’t like it.”

“I know, Love. You never did.”

“I’m working on it though.”

“That’s what matters,” she smiles, patting my knee and walking back over to the chair when the doctor walks into the room.

“Hello, Kat.”

“Hello Dr. Brown, how are you?”

“Doing well, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you,” she chimes walking over to the desk in the corner, opening my file on the computer, “and you’ve brought a guest.”

“Yeah, I’ve felt pretty good until now,” I sigh, “anyway, this is my girlfriend, Adena.”

“Nice to meet you, Adena.”

“Likewise,” Adena smiles.

“So, you’re getting the headaches again?” Dr. Brown asks, walking over to check my blood pressure. 

“Yeah, all the symptoms are starting to come back, I thought we had it under control.”

“We did, and then medications wear off, or they need to be boosted, you’ve gone three years on the same medication, it’s not unusual to need a boost,” she says, pulling a small flashlight out of her pocket, shining it in my eyes, “the right side still hurting more than the left?” 

“Yeah, the lights at work are the worst,” I wince, closing my eyes when she shines the light in them, “I feel one now.”

“Okay, we’re going to have to up your medication,” she says, a slight concern to her tone.

“Great,” I sigh, rolling my eyes.

“We don’t want you having a stroke, so you’re going to deal with it of course,” Dr. Brown smiles over her shoulder. 

“No, we don’t want her having a stroke,” Adena chimes from her seat.

“Listen to your girlfriend.”

“I know better than to not listen to her,” I smile at Adena.

“You’ve trained her well,” Dr. Brown teases.

“I’ve had her trained since we were thirteen,” Adena laughs.

“That is going to benefit you in the long run. I’ve had my wife trained for over twenty years, and I have to say, it’s well worth it.”

“Well, Adena knows I won’t give her a hard time when I know she’s right.”

“You already have her on the right track,” Dr. Brown teases, “okay, I want to see you in a couple of weeks, we’re going to run your blood again and I want to do an MRI. I recommend taking some time off from work if you can. And don’t travel via airplane for a but, just because of the pressure and all.”

“Okay.”

“Your medication still goes to the same place?”

“Yes Ma’am,” I nod. 

“Alright then, I will see you just after the New Year. Have a happy holiday, ladies.” 

* * *

“How are you feeling?” Adena asks as she walks towards the bed, I look up at her over the laptop screen and smile pushing my glasses to the top of my head.

“You don’t have to keep asking me. I’m fine, I’ve felt better since the medication was changed.”

“I worry about you,” she says, lying down on her side.

“I know, Babe. But everything is fine. Right now we just have to worry about seeing my family for Christmas,” I say, closing the laptop and moving it so I could lie down and face Adena.

“I know. Aisha might be coming for New Years, but she isn’t sure yet.” 

“Well when she knows, let me know, and then we’ll figure out how to put her up.”

“I know you love this loft, but would you be willing to maybe get a bigger place?” She asks, running her fingers through my hair.

“Not for a while. I love it here, and I don’t want to give it up until the time is right.”

“So if kids ever came into the picture?”

“Then I would look into getting a bigger place.”

“Do you want to stay in the city?” Adena asks.

“My work is here, so yes. I wouldn’t think of going too far.”

“Jacqueline got in touch with me, she wants me to be the in house photographer for the magazine.”

“That’s great, are you going to take it?”

“I think so,” she smiles. 

“You’re hesitant about it though.”

“Do you think that working together will be a bad idea?”

“Do you?"

“I don't want to be a distraction…” 

“Well, lucky for both of us, we get so caught up in work, there is no room for distraction.”

“Except when your job calls for posting whatever it is you need for your job, therefore distracting me from mine,” she says playfully.

“It’s not entirely my fault you get distracted by me,” I tease.

“It’s only partly your fault, right?”

“Always have been, and always will be,” I chime, leaning in and kissing her.

“I love you,” she mumbles.

“I love you,” I whisper back, “with all my heart.”


	13. Chapter 13

-Adena POV-

I stand in front of one of the monitors, looking over the few photos that I have taken while I wait for the model to change onto the next outfit. Oliver stood over my shoulder, looking over what he wanted to use and what he felt didn’t, the list of photos that he didn’t like was nearly nonexistent, boosting my ego a bit more than it needed to be boosted, “Kat never said you were this good at your job,” he chimes.

“Thank you,” I laughed, “I’m going to edit these and have them to you just before lunch.”

“That works, I only need a couple in this dress and then we’ll call it a day and do whatever you have to do.”

“Of course,” I smile. The rest of the shoot was over fairly quickly and I was left on my own to edit. I fell into a hole of sorts, losing track of everything around me until I feel a pair of arms wrapping around my shoulders, and a kiss to the side of my neck.

“How’s your first day?” Kat asks, resting her chin on my shoulder.

“Busy. Oliver was impressed by how well I do my job. He had no complaints.”

“I thought your head was a little bit bigger when I walked in.” 

“I can’t deny an ego boost,” I chime, turning around to face her and kissing her properly.

“Oh, I know. So I came down here to ask if you wanted to get lunch.”

“I promised Oliver I would have these done before I go to lunch, can you meet me in the lobby in about fifteen minutes?”

“Meet me at my desk instead?”

“Deal,” I smiled, leaning in to kiss her.

-Kat POV-

I was sitting at my desk responding to emails when I see Adena across the bullpen, walking towards Oliver’s office with a folder. I log off of my computer, grabbing my phone and my bag before making my way towards Adena. I smile, leaning against the glass door of Oliver’s office, watching as she and Oliver go over the photos from the day’s shoot. “I am very impressed,” Oliver chimes, “I knew you were good, don’t get me wrong, I’ve looked through your work and I know you’re brilliant. It’s just nice to work with someone who gets it right the first time, that’s what makes someone a true professional, understanding the vision before putting film in the camera.”

“It’s memory cards now, but I know what you mean,” she says, causing me to let out a laugh, “hey, Love,” she smiles, walking over and kissing me quickly. 

“We’re good here Adena if you want to go out with your girlfriend,” he says with a knowing smirk.

“Thank you, if you want anything changed or edited differently, just let me know. The jump drive has everything we did today as well.”

“Thank you, I’ll see you later.” 

“Are you ready to go?” I ask as we walk back towards the lobby. 

“Yeah, where do you want to go?” 

“We can go to the diner on the corner.”

“Lead the way, Love,” she smiles, taking my hand in hers and lacing our fingers together. 

“Oliver seemed happy with your work.”

“He was happy to finally have a professional.”

“That’s great news for you,” I smile, opening the door for her once we reach the diner. “Are you still going to freelance?” I ask as we’re seated at a table by the window.

“I don’t know. You know I love doing my own thing too… I don’t know if I’ll have time to do showings and things like that.” 

“I don’t want you to stay with this job if you aren’t doing the work you want to.” 

“I know. I won’t stay with it if I felt I wasn’t being as creative as I want to be.”

“Whatever makes you happy. I support it no matter what.”

“Thank you,” Adena smiles. “I wanted to talk to you about something.” 

“Okay,” I say, sitting up a bit.

“Remember when we talked about getting a puppy?”

“You brought up the puppy, but I am aware of the discussion.”

“I want to maybe look into adopting,” she chimes, batting her eyes in a way that she knew I would give into.

“No way, I’m not going to fall for it.” 

“But we talked about it.”

“That was when you were freelancing, you would have been home a lot more often to take care of the thing. We can’t rearrange our lives for a dog right now.”

“And what if it were our child?”

“I would rearrange my life for them in a second,” I say, only having it register a little bit after I said it.

“You would do that for our child?”

“Yes, I would. I don’t want our kid being raised by a nanny.”

“I don’t either,” she smiles, reaching over and taking my hand in hers, “I would stay home and take care of our child. I would go back to freelancing and focusing on gallery showings rather than working a normal shift at Scarlet.”

“And I would arrange to work from home.” 

“Really?” 

“Really. I would even try to have meetings from home. I would do anything for that kid.” 

“Would you be surprised if I told you I never thought of you as being maternal?” 

“No. I know I’ve said a lot of things in the past, a lot of things that I know would never make sense for this conversation. I’m contradicting myself a lot, but I feel like I’ve changed in these past few months of living with you.”

“Really?”

“Adena, I don’t know if you fully understand just how much I love you.”

“I think I do, and I know you enough to know that this feeling scares the shit out of you.”

“It does,” I say through a laugh.

“But, you and I both know we can work through it. We can communicate things to each other to make sure it doesn’t affect us in any way whatsoever,” She says, reaching across the table and taking my hand in hers.

“I love you, Adena.”

“I love you, Kat.” 

* * *

“So, how is Adena doing?” I ask Sutton as she makes her way past my desk to Oliver’s office.

“Why didn’t we think to hire her sooner?” 

“I don’t know,” I shrug.

“Well, I hope to God she stays around for a long time. She’s the only photographer we’ve had that takes a concept and follows it while also making it her own and it turns out amazing no matter what.” 

“That’s great to hear.” 

“You want to say something, don’t you?” She says, cocking an eyebrow.

“Yeah, where’s Jane?” 

“She’s out doing an interview.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to her about it later then,” I say, getting up and taking Sutton by the hand, leaning her to the fashion closet.

“What’s up?”

“I think I want to propose to Adena,” I rush out, watching Sutton’s expression change, leading into her screaming so loud people may have thought she was getting murdered. She pulls me into a hug, holding me tight.

“I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks,” I smile as she pulls away from me.

“So what’s your plan?” 

“Getting a ring for starters, that’s the priority. Then I think I’ll talk to her parents, talk to my parents, and go from there.”

“You’re going to be proper about it?” 

“I think her parents would like me to be, I’m going to start by calling them later on,” I say. We both jumped at the sound of the door opening, turning to see Adena walking into the closet with a smile on her face.

“Alex said you would be in here,” she chimes, walking over and kissing me quickly, “I just finished editing the photos and handed them off to Oliver,” she explains to Sutton.

“Awesome, I’m gonna go and look them over too, I’ll call you later Kat, we’ll talk more about that surprise party for Jane.” 

“Of course,” I nod.

“Surprise party?” 

“Yeah, Jane’s birthday is coming up, she’s going to be twenty-five. Sutton and I want to celebrate.” I lied.

“I didn’t know she was younger than you.”

“Oh yeah, only by the year though.”

“I see, well if you want to go by Sutton’s and help plan this party after work that’s fine.”

“No, no. It isn’t like that just yet. It’s the early stages of it,” I say, waving it off.   


“Okay, Love,” Adena smiles, pulling me in for another kiss, “I was going to meet a couple of friends after work, so I won’t be home right away.”

“That’s fine, Love. I think I’m going to go to visit my parents after work.”

“You’re going to Connecticut?”

“Mom texted me and said they were at their apartment in the East Village.”

“Oh, okay. Whatever you want to do, Love. I’m meeting my friends in Williamsburg, so we’ll just be across the river,” Adena smiles, leaning in and kissing me. 

“Okay, Sweetheart,” I smile.

* * *

I open the door to the building, making my way up to my parents’ apartment, nearly dropping the flowers I had in my hand for my mom, “Kat, calm down,” I tell myself, taking a deep breath. I stop in front of their door, taking a deep breath, I knock on the door and hear shuffling behind it before my mom opens the door with a smile, pulling me into a hug.

“How are you?” She chimes in my ear.

“I’m good Mom,” I smile as when she pulls away, “these are for you.”

“Thank you, Sweetie,” she cooed, “Your father is in his office if you want to see him now.”

“It’s alright,” I say, waving him off.

“So how is everything?”

“Great. Adena and I are doing very well. I have all of my health in order, and there are no complaints.” 

“That’s wonderful to hear,” she said, handing me a glass of red wine.

“Hey, Sweetheart,” Dad chimes as he walks into the kitchen, “no Adena?”

“She was meeting friends,” I smiled, taking a sip from my glass, “I wanted to talk to you guys about something while she isn’t here.” 

“Are you going to propose?” Mom asks with a smile.

“I wanted to know your opinion on it before I did it, but yes.” 

“I think it’s up to you, Sweetheart. We both will support your choice. If you feel it’s right and you want to do it, there is no reason for us to stop you,” Dad explained, “have you talked to Ester and Armand?”

“Not yet. I only made the decision this afternoon.” 

“Really?”

“Yeah, we went to lunch, and I decided after that. I can’t see my life without her.”

“Well, I can tell you right now that that is a wonderful feeling, Sweetheart,” Mom chimes. 

“Do you have any idea of how you’ll propose?” Dad asks with a smile.

* * *

I walk into the apartment to find Adena was already home, walking out of the bathroom from taking a shower. She smiles, and greeted me with a kiss, “how was dinner with your parents?”

“Great, it was nice to see them and catch up, they asked about you.”

“Well, I’ll get in touch with your mother later and let her know I want to get together with her for lunch.” 

“She would like that,” I chime before making my way up to change. Adena follows close behind, going over to her side of the closet and dropping the towel she was holding around her body. I turn to see her standing there with a knowing grin as she lets out a small chuckle.

“Kat?” She chimes in the seductive tone she puts on so well.

“I know what you’re doing,” I say, wagging my finger at her.

“Are you objecting?” She asks, cocking an eyebrow.

“Just a bit.”

“And why is that?” 

“I have to take my medicine, and if I forget it could be bad.”

“So go take it, and then we’ll go from there,” she smiles, walking over and kissed me passionately. 

“Dena,” I whine.

“What is it, Kat?”

“I love you, I do. I’m just not in the mood right now.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I think it just works. I have a lot going on right now, a lot on my mind.”

“So let me distract you.”

“You know I don’t like to do this without giving you something in return.”

“You don’t have to feel obligated to return the favor,” she chimes, leaning in and kissing me softly before moving down my body and getting on her knees.

* * *

I wake up to the sound of Adena humming contently as she stands in front of the stove cooking breakfast. I sit up, stretching my arms over my head, feeling things pop back into place. “You’re awake,” Adena smiles, walking over with my cup of coffee and kissing me.

“You tired me out,” I chime, kissing her again.

“I know,” she winks before walking back over to the kitchen. I reach over the side of the bed, grabbing a t-shirt before getting out of bed and walking over to Adena, wrapping my arms around her waist, kissing the back of her neck. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she chimes, turning to kiss me quickly, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You’ve been a little off since you got back from your parents’ last night.”

“Everything is fine, I promise.”


End file.
